Posted on 04/11/2014 10:39:50 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
April 11, 2014, 01:06 pm Obama denies visa to Iran diplomat
By Justin Sink
The White House said Friday it would not issue a visa to Iran's next ambassador to the United Nations, who has ties to the Iranian hostage crisis.
“We have informed the United Nations and Iran that we will not issue a visa to Mr. Hamid Abutalebi,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
Abutalebi has admitted that he worked as a translator and negotiator for the student group that held Americans hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran for 444 days.
"We’ve confirmed what we’ve conveyed. We will not issue a visa. Details of visa cases including the reason [for the rejection] are not issues we can talk about publicly for legal reasons," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday.
U.S. law prohibits federal officials from commenting on details of visa cases, she added.
Asked if the State Department thinks the visa rejection will affect nuclear negotiations with Iran, Psaki said "No, we do not."
After the third round of negotiations wrapped up in Vienna this week, she said, "Our team did not find that this ongoing discussion in the public will impact those negotiations."
Abutalebi's nomination prompted bipartisan outrage on Capitol Hill, where both chambers of Congress passed legislation that would prevent the government from providing a visa to any United Nations ambassadors with ties to terrorist attacks against the United States.
Carney stopped short of saying that the president would sign that legislation, saying the administration was reviewing its constitutionality.
The bill would contradict a 1947 treaty that obligates the United States to grant entry visas to the representatives of U.N. member states, which was signed as part of the bid to attract the permanent headquarters to New York.
But Carney said the White House shared the concerns at the root of the bill, and would work to implement its “intent.” He hinted that Obama might sign it but attach a signing statement questioning its constitutionality.
Abutalebi is a top adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, and his rejection could scuttle ongoing negotiations over the country's nuclear weapons programs. Hardliners within Iran are likely to cite the U.S. rejection of Rouhani's visa as evidence that Washington does not abide by the terms of international agreements.
Carney denied the move would have an impact on those talks. "There's a process in place with our partners on the P-5 plus one that is moving forward in a workman-like manner and that we do not expect to be affected by this decision," Carney said.
The United Nations is also likely to lodge a protest over the move.
In 1988, the U.S. refused to provide Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a visa to speak at the General Assembly, prompting the U.N. to move its meeting to Geneva.
The U.N. passed a resolution 154-2-1 denouncing the U.S. decision, with only the U.S., Israel and the United Kingdom not voting in favor.
This story was updated at 1:30 p.m.
“Abutalebi has admitted that he worked as a translator and negotiator for the student group that held Americans hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran for 444 days.”
If he ‘admits’ this much, he was probably an interrogator of the US hostages.
...because TED CRUZ shamed the Congress into voting a veto-proof majority AGAINST letting him in.
Otherwise, Obamugabe would have welcomed the terrorist with open arms.
Just like he and Hitlery love the Muslim Brotherhood.
Only stopped because the informed component of the public (aka conservatives) picked up on it and made it public. Otherwise you wouldn’t have heard a peep and 0 would be talking having ‘flexibility’ after discarding the 22nd amendment and heading into his 3rd term....
Where is Sen. Ted Cruz’s name in this story? Sen. Cruz was the one to put a stop to this outrageous idea that an Iranian hostage taker could be given a visa as an ambassador to the US. Sen. Schumer, with his unfailing nose for the cameras, quickly hopped on board with Sen. Cruz’s objection.
Strange, not to even mention this outstanding Texas senator in the article and presenting it as though Obama blocked the visa. BAH!
I would have had him arrested when he stepped off the airplane.
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