Iranian MP Urges Gov't to Resist US Pressure over UN Envoy Pick
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior Iranian lawmaker called on the government not to give in to the US pressures to change its choice for the post of UN ambassador.
In an interview with the Tasnim News Agency on Saturday, Ahmad Shohani, a member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said that succumbing to the US bullying will embolden the American officials and will prompt them to step up their future demands.
“The Iranian government should pursue Abutalebi’s case seriously. It is all countries’ legal right (to choose their ambassadors to the United Nations) and the US is obliged to grant them visas under the international law and regardless of its political intentions”, said the Iranian lawmaker.
Iran has proposed Hamid Abutalebi as its newly-appointed ambassador to the United Nations. But the US, the UN headquarters host country, has opposed to his nomination.
On April 8, the US Senate voted to bar Abutalebi from the American soil. The House of Representatives unanimously passed the same legislation two days later. Later on, the White House said the Iranian diplomat will not be welcomed in the country, describing his nomination as “not viable.”
