White House calls Iran's choice of UN ambassador 'not viable'
| Washington
罢丑别听White House聽made clear on Tuesday that it did not welcome聽Iran's choice of Hamid Abutalebi as its new聽United Nations聽ambassador, saying officials had told聽Tehran聽that the selection was "not viable."
But聽White House聽spokesman聽Jay Carney聽stopped short of saying Abutalebi would be barred from entering the聽United States聽because of his alleged role in the 1979-1981 hostage crisis, during which radical Iranian students held聽U.S. Embassy聽staff for 444 days.
"We've informed the government of聽Iran聽that this potential selection is not viable," Carney told reporters.
Asked to explain what "not viable" meant, Carney said: "It's diplomatic jargon to mean what you want it to mean."
He declined to elaborate on whether Abutalebi would be barred from the country, and emphasized that聽Iran's choice of Abutalebi was a "potential selection" that had "not been formally made."
As the "host" nation for the聽U.N. headquarters, the United States is generally required to provide access to the United Nations for foreign diplomats. However, the State Department last week said U.S. law allows it to deny visas to diplomats for reasons of "security, terrorism, and foreign policy."
Earlier on Tuesday,聽Iran's Foreign Ministry聽played down legislation passed by the U.S.聽Senate聽on Monday to聽bar Abutalebi聽from entering the聽United States, saying it had contacted the聽U.S. government聽about a visa.
Some members of the聽U.S. Congress聽have expressed outrage at the choice of the veteran Iranian diplomat. The House of Representatives is expected to soon pass a similar ban.
"We share the聽Senate's concerns regarding this case and find the potential nomination very troubling," said Carney.
In remarks to Iranian media, Abutalebi has played down his role during the hostage crisis, suggesting he was just a translator.
It was unclear whether the dispute over the ambassador would have an impact on a new round of talks aboutIran's nuclear program that began on Tuesday in聽Vienna聽between聽Iran聽and six major world powers, including theUnited States.
"It has been a usual practice in the Iranian Foreign Ministry to formally appoint ambassadors for all foreign postings, once all formalities pertaining to this process are completed," a spokesman for聽Iran's U.N. mission in New York said on Tuesday.
