(Adds quotes from Iran's letter to United Nations, paragraphs 3-4, 7-8) By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS, April 14 (Reuters) - Iran requested on Monday a special meeting of a U.N. committee on the United States' refusal to grant a visa to Tehran's new U.N. ambassador appointee, describing the decision as a dangerous precedent that could harm international diplomacy. The United States said on Friday it would **t grant a visa to Hamid Abutalebi because of his links to the 1979-1981 Tehran hostage crisis when radical Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. "This decision of the U.S. government has indeed negative implications for multilateral diplomacy and will create a dangerous precedence and affect adversely the work of intergovernmental organizations and activities of their Member-States," Iran's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Hossein Dehghani wrote to the U.N. committee on Relations with the Host Country. Cyprus U.N. Ambassador Nicholas Emiliou, who chairs the 19-member committee dealing with issues including immigration and security, said a meeting would likely be held next week.
04-17-2014, 01:35 PM
Iran asks for U.N. committee meeting on U.S. ban on envoy
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