Iran adamant on UN envoy choice

TEHRAN/DUBAI: Iran signaled its defiance Saturday over America’s refusal to grant a visa to its chosen UN ambassador, saying it does not plan to pick an alternative envoy.
Tehran also said it was examining its legal options over the row, which has undermined a cautious thaw in relations after decades of enmity following the storming of the US Embassy in 1979 and the hostage crisis that followed.
Washington has said it will not issue a visa to Hamid Aboutalebi because of his links to the students who seized the embassy just months after the revolution.
However, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said the country was not considering any potential replacement for Aboutalebi, an experienced diplomat who has previously attended sessions at the UN headquarters in New York.
“We do not have a replacement for Mr. Abutalebi and we will pursue the matter via legal mechanisms anticipated in the United Nations,” Abbas Araghchi, a senior Foreign Ministry official, was quoted by Iran’s official IRNA news agency as saying.
The veteran diplomat has acknowledged that he acted as an interpreter for the militants who held the hostages.
US President Barack Obama had come under strong domestic pressure not to allow Abutalebi into the country to take up his position in New York, raising concerns that the dispute would disrupt delicate negotiation between Tehran and six world powers including Washington over Iran’s nuclear program.