![](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/03\/capitol_hill.jpg\" "\\"capitol_hill\\"")
Source: Bloomberg<\/p>\nSource: Bloomberg<\/p>\n
The U.S. House will vote today on a bill that seeks to block Iran\u2019s choice for its next ambassador to the United Nations from entering the U.S.<\/p>\n
House leaders will try to pass by unanimous consent the measure that the Senate approved April 7, according to a senior Republican leadership aide who requested anonymity to speak about a vote that hadn\u2019t been formally announced.<\/p>\n
Efforts to improve decades-long strained ties between the U.S. and Iran have been damaged by the Islamic Republic\u2019s choice of Hamid Aboutalebi as its next UN envoy. Aboutalebi has been linked to a student group that led the takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehren in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The U.S. responded to the takeover by breaking diplomatic ties with Iran.<\/p>\n
The Senate bill, S. 2195, doesn\u2019t mention Aboutalebi by name. Instead, it urges denial of admission to the U.S. \u201cto any representative to the United Nations who has engaged in espionage activities against the United States, poses a threat to United States national security interests, or has engaged in a terrorist activity against the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
White House spokesman Jay Carney has labeled the selection of Aboutalebi as \u201cnot viable.\u201d Carney, though, has stopped short of saying that the U.S. would deny Aboutalebi a visa to serve at the UN, which is headquartered in New York on international soil.<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry has called the U.S. stance on Aboutalebi\u2019s selection \u201cnot acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Barack Obama has the authority to deny a visa to Aboutalebi by deeming him a security threat to the U.S., yet doing so may stymie U.S.-led intentional negotiations that aim to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n
The Senate bill, which passed that chamber by unanimous consent, was sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican and possible 2016 presidential candidate. \u201cThe United States Senate is not just going to ignore this latest insult,\u201d he said of Iran\u2019s envoy pick in a speech on the Senate floor.<\/p>\n
Today is the last day the U.S. House could act on the measure before lawmakers leave on a two-week break.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Source: Bloomberg The U.S. House will vote today on a bill that seeks to block Iran’s choice for its next ambassador to the United Nations from entering the U.S. House […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-16313","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-iran-a-world","7":"tag-updated"},"yoast_head":"\n