Senate passes bill to bar Iran UN envoy from entering US

The US Senate passed legislation on Monday that would bar Iran’s recently appointed ambassador to the United Nations, Hamid Aboutalebi, from entering the United States, news reports said.

The Democratic-controlled chamber passed the legislation, sponsored by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, by a voice vote, Reuters reports.

The measure came after allegation that Aboutalebi was involved in the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran during post-revolution incidents in 1979. The Iranian official, who has long served as a diplomat in different countries, denies the allegation.

Aboutalebi’s appointment by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has been criticized by the Barack Obama administration, which called the nomination “extremely troubling.” His visa application to enter the United States as a diplomat has recently been stalled.

As host nation of the United Nations’ headquarters, the US should admit the chosen representatives of UN members, though under limited circumstances, it can refuse to grant visas to such representatives.

“We’re taking a close look at the case now, and we’ve raised our serious concerns about this possible nomination with the government of Iran. I’m not going to get into specifically how we’ve done that, but we have done that,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said at a news briefing last week.

The Cruz bill will require House approval and President Obama’s signature to take effect.

The Washington Post reported that an aide to Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), who has authored a similar bill in the House, said the congressman was working with Cruz to move the proposal quickly through the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.

On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian university students took over the US Embassy in Tehran, which they believed had turned into a den of espionage that aimed to overthrow the nascent Islamic Republic. Documents found at the compound later corroborated claims by the revolutionary students.