US not to issue visa to Iranian UN envoy: White House

Iran's Ambassador to the UN, Hamid Aboutalebi, has been linked to the 1979 hostage crisis

The US has said it would not issue a visa to Iran's newly appointed Ambassador to the United Nations, Hamid Aboutalebi, who has been linked to the 1979 hostage crisis.

"We have informed the United Nations and Iran that we will not issue a visa to Abutalebi," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters yesterday.

His remarks came after the Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill barring Aboutalebi from US soil.

"We certainly share the intent of the bill passed by Congress, as we have already told the UN and Iran that we will not issue a visa. We'll review the legislation; we're doing that now. And we will work to address any issues related to its utility and constitutionality," he said.

The bill expands upon a 1990 law for which President George Bush issued a signing statement expressing constitutional concerns.

"Obviously, we will be looking at this issue as part of our review. But as to the intent, we share it. I think we have made clear in previous statements and today in my statement that we won't be issuing a visa," he said.

Carney said the US has communicated with the Iranians at a number of levels and made clear the American position.

"And that includes our position that the selection was not viable and our position that we will not be issuing him a visa," he said.

"We have obviously expressed our views directly to the Iranians, as well as the United Nations. There's been a fair amount of reporting on this nominee, or this selection, and the concerns expressed in the legislation that we've talked about today reflect our concerns about this selection," he said in response to a question.

Iran had slammed as unacceptable a previous US statement that the nomination of Aboutalebi was "not viable".

As the host government of the United Nations, the US generally is obliged to issue visas to diplomats who serve at the United Nations, although there have been rare exceptions.

In the 1979 hostage crisis, 52 Americans were held for 444 days in Tehran.