WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama
signed a law on Friday that effectively bars an Iranian diplomat from
serving as an envoy at the United Nations because of suspicions he was
involved in the 1979-81 Tehran hostage crisis.
Obama signed a law passed by the US Congress that blocks any
individual from entering the United States who has been found to have
been engaged in espionage or 
terrorist activity against the United
States or if that person may pose a threat to US national security.
terrorist activity against the United
States or if that person may pose a threat to US national security.
The United States had already said it would not grant a visa to
Iran's proposed UN ambassador, citing the envoy's links to the 1979-1981
hostage crisis.
Obama had come under strong pressure not to allow Hamid
Abutalebi into the country to take up his position in New York.
The US government objects to Abutalebi because of his suspected participation in a Muslim student group that seized the US embassy in Tehran in November 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
Obama had come under strong pressure not to allow Hamid
Abutalebi into the country to take up his position in New York. The US government objects to Abutalebi because of his suspected participation in a Muslim student group that seized the US embassy in Tehran in November 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
The veteran Iranian diplomat has acknowledged that he acted as an interpreter for the militants who held the hostages.
The United States said a week ago it had told Iran it would not give
Abutalebi a visa. US officials privately said at the time they hoped
Iran would quietly drop the issue and name a new envoy.
But Iran on Monday asked for a special meeting of a UN committee on
the US decision, calling it a dangerous precedent that could harm
international diplomacy.
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