TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of Iran's Basij (Voluntary) Force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi deplored the US refusal to issue visa for Tehran's new ambassador to the United Nations Hamid Aboutalebi, saying that the move shows the US is not qualified to host the United Nations headquarters."The US move showed that it is not qualified to host the UN and the organization should be transferred to an impartial country," Brigadier General Naqdi told FNA on Tuesday.
Senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials stressed on Saturday that Tehran remains insistent on its pick for the post of Ambassador to the United Nations and will resort to legal means to counter the US refusal to issue visa for Aboutalebi.
"We are considering no alternative to replace Aboutalebi and we are pursuing the issue through legal mechanisms, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi said.
On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham deplored Washington's position on Aboutalebi, as "unacceptable".
Afkham's remarks came in reaction to the Tuesday night's comments by the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney who said Washington has informed Tehran that its new ambassador to the UN will not be welcomed to the US.
"The US governments treatment of the Islamic Republics ambassador to the UN is unacceptable and Dr. Hamid Aboutalebi is Irans choice for the UN representative post, Afkham said.
She pointed to Aboutalebis diplomatic experience as Irans envoy in Italy, Belgium and Australia, and said, "The veteran Iranian diplomat had received a US visa to visit the UN in the 1990s."
On Tuesday, Carney said Irans new pick for the post is not viable".
He made the remarks after the US Senate approved a measure on Monday to bar Iran's proposed ambassador to the UN from entering the US.
The bill, sponsored by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, was passed by the Democratic-controlled chamber by a voice vote.
The Senate took the measure to deny Aboutalebi an entry visa over his possible involvement in the US Embassy takeover in Tehran following the victory of the Islamic evolution in Iran.
On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian university students took over the US Embassy in Tehran, which they believed had turned into a den of espionage". Documents found at the compound later corroborated the claims by the students.
By Fars News Agency
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