US Senators urge denying visa to Iran envoy to UN

A group of US Republican Senators have launched a campaign to compel Washington to deny diplomatic visa to Iran’s nominated envoy to the UN, Hamid Aboutalebi.

On Thursday, 29 Republican senators, led by Mark Kirk, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, wrote a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to deny a visa to Aboutalebi over allegations that he was involved in the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979.

Aboutalebi, who has long served as a diplomat in different countries, has denied the reports.

On November 4, 1979, a group of revolutionary Iranian university students took over the US Embassy, 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 revolutionary students that the United States was using its Tehran embassy to plot to overthrow the new Islamic establishment of Iran.

The US Department of State claims it is troubled by Aboutalebi’s selection, but it has not yet declared whether or not Aboutalebi will be granted a visa.

The UN regulations have stipulated that each country is allowed to select it own representative at the international organization.

John Catalinotto, a foreign policy analyst with the International Action Center, told Press TV that the move is a partisan political maneuver from critics of President Barack Obama.

“Now it is a part of the political struggle over here and they always attempt to make Obama look like he is weak or something like that and [make him] more aggressive against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the analyst said.