The spokesman of the Iranian Foreign ministry said on Friday
night that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would not visit the UN
Security Council to address a Saturday meeting on his country's
nuclear program due to the late visa issuance from the US side, the
state television reported.
President Ahmadinejad cannot speak before the UN Security
Council due to the "US obstacle on visa issuance" to him and his
delegation, the ministry's spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini was
quoted as saying.
Instead of that, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will go to
New York to attend the meeting and "explain Iran's position on the
nuclear issue," he added.
"The Americans have triumphantly prevented President Ahmadinejad
from joining the conference through their failure to issue visas
for him and his accompanying delegation," said Hosseini.
In addition, some Western reports said that Mohammad Mir Ali
Mohammadi, press secretary of Iran's mission at the UN, also
reported that the US government had not granted the needed visas to
the US Embassy in Switzerland in time for the Iranian leader to
visit New York.
Ahmadinejad was prepared to go to New York to address a Security
Council meeting on Saturday, in order to prevent another UN nuclear
sanction resolution against his country.
However, the US State Department said Friday that the White
House had already delivered visas for Iranian president and his 38
corteges so he could express his opinions at that meeting when the
Security Council member states begin to vote on the resolution.
(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2007)
