US lawmakers are outraged over Iran's move to appoint a man linked to 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran as its ambassador to the United Nations.
Iran's move has prompted Senator Ted Cruz to propose a law that would prevent Hamid Abutalebi, now a veteran diplomat, from entering the United States.
According to the Independent, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's administration has submitted a US visa application for Abutalebi.
However, he was at one time a member of the group Students Following the Imam's Line, which was behind the occupation of the US Embassy in November 1979 and the holding hostage of 52 Americans for 444 days, the report said.
Cruz, a Republican from Texas, said the legislation would oblige the United States to deny visas to UN applicants who have engaged in terrorist activity, it added.
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