Spokesman Raps US Senators’ Push to Deny New Iranian President Visa for UNGA
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry slammed as “childish and naive” a move by a number of US senators to call on President Joe Biden to deny entry visa to Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raeisi for participation in the UN General Assembly next month.
In remarks at a press conference on Sunday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh answered a question about a letter to Biden from some US senators who have called on him to deny entry visas to Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raeisi and other senior Iranian officials to attend the UN General Assembly in September.
“Such requests are childish, naive, and made within the framework of the anti-Iranian lobbies,” Khatibzadeh stated.
He said the US has certain duties as the host country for the UN headquarters and must fulfill its obligations regardless of its differences with other countries.
“The anti-Iranian lobbies take advantage of every allegation and have taken such measures in the past as well,” the spokesman noted.
In a letter on July 28, US senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) requested that the US president refuse to issue a visa to Iran’s next president and senior Iranian officials if they decide to travel to New York for the opening of the UN General Assembly.
