U.S. adopts harsher tone in U.N. envoy dispute with Iran

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The United States adopted a harsher tone toward Iran's proposed U.N. ambassador on Tuesday, calling Tehran's choice of Hamid Abutalebi "unacceptable" and tying him to the 1979-1981 U.S. hostage crisis in Tehran. While it did **t detail what the veteran diplomat may have done during the period, when radical Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy and held 52 U.S. hostages for 444 days, the State Department for the first time linked the U.S. decision **t to issue him a visa to those events. "He himself has said he was involved and, given his role in the events of 1979, which clearly matter profoundly to the American people, it would be unacceptable for the United States to grant this visa," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily briefing. Previously U.S. spokespeople used softer language, saying the choice was **t "viable." The United States on Friday said it had told Iran it would **t give Abutalebi a visa.

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