WASHINGTON: The US State Department has said it was up to the consular officials at the Pakistan Embassy to issue or reject a visa request by a US citizen, and it did not relate to them.

The issue was raised after recent media reports claimed the Pakistan Embassy had denied visas to US citizens of Pakistani origin because of their links to PTI.

The reports added that some US citizens were also detained in Pakistan for participating in political activities.

At a news briefing in Washington on Tuesday, the department’s Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel was asked if those US citizens whose visas were rejected approached the State Department.

State Dept spox refuses to specify if Congress has asked for probing cipher issue

“I am not aware of this. Obviously, if there are any issues that arise in this area, certainly it would be something for Pakistani consular officials to speak to and not anything that relates to the State Department.”

“We will just leave it at that,” said the US official when a reporter sought more clarification.

Mr Patel was also asked if the US Congress has asked the State Department to probe the cipher dispute that has initiated legal proceedings against former prime minister Imran Khan.

“We consult our congressional partners on a number of issues, We will not speak about something specifically, but we are continuing to monitor the situation closely,” replied the official.

At the briefing, another journalist asked Mr Patel if the US was helping those American citizens who have been subjected to house arrests in Iran.

“In any circumstances when an American citizen is detained or an American national is detained, we, of course, assess the situation for indicators that would be consistent with the wrongful detention designation,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2023