(The Hill) Mario Trujillo - A number of senators are urging the Obama administration to deny a visa to Hamid Abutalebi, who was picked by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as Iran's new ambassador to the UN. Abutalebi has links to the group involved in the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) introduced legislation that would prevent a UN ambassador from entering the U.S. if that ambassador was a known terrorist. "It is unconscionable that, in the name of international diplomatic protocol, the United States would be forced to host a foreign national who showed a brutal disregard for the status of our diplomats when they were stationed in his country," Cruz said Tuesday. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) also said the U.S. should seriously consider denying him a visa.
2014-04-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive