President scraps Iran visit, no reasons given

President Maithripala Sirisena has cancelled a planned visit to Iran beginning on January 21.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry has told Iranian authorities that President Sirisena will not be able to attend on the dates agreed due to other urgent commitments. However, no formal reasons have been given.
The dispute over a huge unpaid oil bill due to Iran by Sri Lanka remains unresolved.However, President Sirisena’s visit to Russia, the first ever by a Sri Lankan President, will take place as scheduled on March 21.
After the four-day visit, President Sirisena will fly from Moscow direct to the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka. The Sri Lankan President has been invited to be the chief guest at the Independence Day celebrations of Bangladesh on March 26.

President Sirisena also informally explored the possibility of travelling to Washington DC for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. However, his foreign policy advisers have told him that no foreign dignitaries are expected in the US capital during the inauguration. He had thereafter dropped the idea. President-elect Trump is to be sworn in as the 45th US President on January 20.

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