US Senate bill would bar Iranian envoy Aboutalebi

The US Senate has passed a bill that would bar an ex-Iranian revolutionary appointed ambassador to the UN from entering the country.

The chamber voted unanimously on Monday to bar Hamid Aboutalebi, who was part of the Muslim student group that seized the US embassy in Tehran in 1979. The 52 Americans were held for 444 days during the crisis. The Obama administration has previously called Mr Aboutalebi’s appointment “extremely troubling”.

The House of Representatives is also expected to pass the measure barring him from entering the US. It would then require President Barack Obama’s signature to become law.

The Iranian foreign ministry is said to be in talks with US officials following President Hassan Rouhani’s nomination of Mr Aboutalebi to the UN post.

“We think the process is running its diplomatic course and until we receive a formal response from official channels, we do not consider the matter finished,” ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham told US media. BBC