Iran: visa refused for nuclear chief; Tehran summons Austrian chargé d’affaires

Turin, 14 Sept. (LaPresse/AP) – Iran has condemned Austria’s refusal to grant visas to the head of the Iranian nuclear programme and other members of the delegation travelling to the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, describing the decision as “completely unjustified”. Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stated that Tehran had summoned the Austrian chargé d’affaires, arguing that Austria, as the host country, was obliged to issue the visas. Baghaei accused Western countries of denying Iran the opportunity to defend itself and blamed the United States for pressuring Austria to refuse the visas. The refusal falls within the scope of the UN sanctions against Iran – reinstated last year – which include a travel ban on Iranian officials. Last week, the Board of Governors of the UN atomic agency referred Iran to the UN Security Council for the first time in twenty years, citing a failure to cooperate with a long-running investigation into traces of uranium detected by inspectors at undeclared sites.