Tehran: Iran has complained to the United Nations about the United States refusing to grant a visa to its newly appointed UN ambassador over his role in the 1979 hostage crisis, state news agency Irna said on Monday.
Hamed Aboutalebi has said that he acted only as a translator during the 444-day crisis when radical Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham was quoted by Irna as saying that the issue had been “referred to the UN committee”.
“The official mechanisms for following up the complaint have been activated and we are going to follow up the case,” she said.
Iran had said on Saturday it would take action against Washington at the United Nations over the matter. Since an uproar among former US hostages and US lawmakers over Aboutalebi broke out, Tehran has steadfastly stuck by its choice, describing him as a seasoned diplomat.
Aboutalebi has served as Iran’s ambassador to Italy, Belgium and Australia, and is not known for being a hardliner or for having staunchly anti-Western views.
US President Barack Obama had come under strong domestic pressure not to allow Aboutalebi into the United States to take up his position in New York, raising concerns that the dispute would disrupt delicate negotiations between Tehran and six world powers, including Washington, over Iran’s nuclear programme.
The US government can bar UN diplomats who are considered national security threats, but this potentially precedent-setting step could invite criticism that it is using its position as host nation to improperly exert political influence.
Earlier, the parliament has given a 10-day ultimatum to the government to file a lawsuit against the US.
Afkham said the US’s decision not to issue a visa for Aboutalebi is a breach of international treaties, and runs contrary to the agreement between the UN and the US government.
“Tehran can follow up on the issue through the UN Secretariat and contact UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi said.
“Hamed Aboutalebi has been nominated as the ambassador of Iran to the UN and this issue is not related to Iran-US ties for which the US would refuse to issue a visa for an Iranian citizen,” Takht-e-Ravanchi added.
