Spokesman of Iran’s foreign ministry has said the country’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York who suffers from cancer, found out about his condition after being appointed to the post earlier this year.

After Iran complained this week that the U.S. State Department refused permission to foreign minister Javd Zarif to visit Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi in a New York hospital, Iranians on social media expressed suspicions that the ambassador was appointed to the post to receive medical treatment in the U.S.

One user tweeted asking why regime insiders must receive the best medical care in the West while ordinary Iranians must manage with whatever medical means is available in Iran.

Many exiled Iranians have also tweeted that they cannot visit their loved ones in Iran who similarly face life-threatening illnesses while Zarif complains about not being permitted to visit his ambassador.

The press attaché at the Iranian Mission to the UN has tweeted that embassy staff have medical insurance in the U.S. and “naturally his (Ambassador’s) medical bills are taken care of by the insurance company”.

Takht Ravanchi is reportedly receiving treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Another Twitter user says Takht Ravanchi should receive medical care in Iran to prove his loyalty to the policies of the regime, which offers substandard health care in Iran.