Iran's UN ambassador nominee denied entry to US over hostage crisis link

Iranian nominated ambassador to the United Nations Hamid Abutalebi in Tehran, Iran. Photograph: EPA

The White House has made good on a promise not to let an Iranian tied to the 1979 hostage crisis travel to the United States.

The administration on Friday denied a visa to Hamid Abutalebi, who sought entry as Iran’s recently appointed ambassador to the United Nations. The visa denial came a day after Congress passed quickie legislation to bar entry to the US to individuals tied to a national security threat.

"We concur with the Congress and share the intent of the bill," press secretary Jay Carney said. Earlier this week, he said the White House had “informed the government of Iran that this potential selection is not viable”.

An Iranian spokesman at the United Nations said the move contravened international law. "It is a regrettable decision by the US administration which is in contravention of international law, the obligation of the host country and the inherent right of sovereign member states to designate their representatives to the United Nations," spokesman Hamid Babaei said in a statement.

On Tuesday, Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif saidAbutalebi was an experienced diplomat and that “the US administration is well aware of the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran considers the [potential] visa denial unacceptable.”

Iranians angered by American backing for the deposed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and by western exploitation of oil assets stormed the US embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979. Fifty-two US citizens and diplomats inside were held hostage for 444 days.

The role Abutalebi played in the hostage-taking is unclear. He suggested to Iranian media that he had acted as a translator for the hostage-takers.

The United States typically grants visas to diplomats and heads of state from around the world, including from Iran, Venezuela and other nations with tenuous relations with Washington, to visit UN headquarters in New York City.

A bill authored by Republican senator Ted Cruz, which presaged the visa denial, easily passed the Senate on Monday, after it received the backing of Democratic hawks such as Chuck Schumer. Cruz, a standard-bearer of the right wing of the GOP, called Iran’s nomination a “deliberate and unambiguous insult to the United States”. It sailed through the House of Representatives on Thursday.