By RFE/RL
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama has signed a law that blocks the granting of a U.S. visa for Iranian diplomat Hamid Abutalebi, who was selected by Tehran to be its new ambassador to the United Nations.
Abutalebi has been accused of being involved in the hostage-taking of U.S. diplomats in Tehran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Abutalebi said he wasn't in Tehran at the start of the crisis but later served as a translator for the hostage-takers.
Obama signed a law passed by the U.S. Congress that blocks any individual from entering the United States who has been found to have been engaged in espionage or terrorist activity against the U.S. and its allies or if that person may pose a threat to national security.
The U.S. had said it would not grant a visa to Abutalebi.
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama has signed a law that blocks the granting of a U.S. visa for Iranian diplomat Hamid Abutalebi, who was selected by Tehran to be its new ambassador to the United Nations.
Abutalebi has been accused of being involved in the hostage-taking of U.S. diplomats in Tehran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Abutalebi said he wasn't in Tehran at the start of the crisis but later served as a translator for the hostage-takers.
Obama signed a law passed by the U.S. Congress that blocks any individual from entering the United States who has been found to have been engaged in espionage or terrorist activity against the U.S. and its allies or if that person may pose a threat to national security.
The U.S. had said it would not grant a visa to Abutalebi.