AFP – The United States’ refusal to issue a visa to Iran’s pick for UN ambassador is not impacting talks over the country’s disputed nuclear program, Washington’s envoy to the United Nations said Sunday.
Washington has said it won’t issue a visa to newly appointed Hamid Aboutalebi, who has been linked to the 1979 U.S. hostage crisis.
Iran, in response, has insisted the objection is unacceptable and threatens to cloud a gradual thaw in relations between the two enemies after decades of mistrust.
The spat comes as Tehran and world powers engage in negotiations aimed at transforming a temporary accord on Iran’s nuclear program into a permanent agreement.
In an interview with ABC’s “This Week” program, the U.S. envoy to the U.N. said Washington was focused on continuing those so-called P5+1 talks involving the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.
“Nothing in this quite public confrontation so far has had any impact on that,” Ambassador Samantha Power said.
“Again, so far we had talks just last week. We’ll have more high level talks in the next month,” she added when prodded about potential harm.
“And our experts are meeting every day. We have not seen this issue influence those talks in any way. And the urgency, of course, of that issue is plain to everyone.”
