US Congress Iran UN envoy bill unwise: Analyst

US Congress approval of a legislation that prevents Iran’s newly-appointed ambassador to the United Nations from entering the United States is an “unwise initiative,” a political analyst tells Press TV.

“What the US Congress has done as I said represents basically tearing up international treaties and has implications far beyond Iran… this is really very bad timing and unwise initiative by the US Congress,” political scientist Kaveh Afrasiabi said in an interview with Press TV on Friday.

On Thursday, the US House of Representatives unanimously approved the legislation that prevents Hamid Aboutalebi, Iran’s pick for the position of ambassador to the UN, from entering the US.

The analyst pointed that the bill is in breach of Washington’s international commitments, “because as the host country for the UN, the US is obligated to maintain certain protocols and principles, one of which is the exemption of foreign diplomats from the regular immigration procedures and screening them.”

He also said that the move could undermine the ongoing talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the US, France, Britain, Russia and China — plus Germany over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

The legislation “sends a very negative, horrible message that the hostility very familiar to the Iranian people by the US toward Iran continues despite the recent advancements in nuclear talks,” he added.

Washington has decided to deny visa to Aboutalebi over his possible involvement in the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran during post-revolution incidents in 1979.

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”. Documents found at the compound later corroborated the claims by the students.