U.S. denies visas to Iranians heading for UN meeting - report

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States has denied visas to Iranian officials hoping to attend a UN meeting in New York, Reuters reported citing Iran's state news agency.

The Iranian judiciary's Human Rights Headquarters said in a statement that the United States denied visas to members of an Iranian delegation that planned to travel to a meeting of the United Nations' Third Committee, which focuses on social issues and human rights, state news agency IRNA said.

"The U.S. government, by not issuing visas to the members of the delegation, wants to ruin the possibility of the presence of the delegation, and prevent its members from conducting their mission of interacting and cooperating with the United Nations," said the statement, according to IRNA.

The judiciary body urged UN officials to warn the United States against such decisions and remind it of its obligations as UN host country, IRNA reported. According to Reuters, it did not say how many Iranian officials had applied for visas from the United States or when they wanted to travel.

In September, Iran's Fars news agency reported that the U.S. had denied visas to about 20 government officials hoping to attend the UN General Assembly, including two ministers, although President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did attend and addressed the assembly.

At the time, a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "Visas for foreign officials to attend UN meetings in the UN headquarters district are adjudicated in accordance with all applicable laws and procedures including both U.S. law and the UN Headquarters Agreement, however, visa records are confidential."