TEHRAN — Iran rejected naming a new diplomat Saturday to represent it at the United Nations, with one lawmaker urging the Islamic Republic to stand up to ‘‘bullying’’ from the United States, which has rejected granting Iran’s choice a visa.
The standoff over Hamid Aboutalebi, a member of the group responsible for the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran, comes as world powers negotiate with Iran over its contested nuclear program. It also threatens to stir fresh animosity between countries that recently have seen their relations thaw.
The Obama administration said Friday that the United States had informed Iran it would not grant a visa to Aboutalebi, suggesting that behind-the-scenes discussions to get them to withdraw him from consideration failed.
On Saturday, Iranian state television anchors discussed the US rejection, with a crawl at the bottom of the screen reading: ‘‘The Foreign Ministry says Aboutalebi is Iran’s only choice as its UN envoy.’’
Prominent lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said the United States had no right to intervene in Iran’s UN envoy pick. Boroujerdi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, urged Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to write to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to fight the US decision.
Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was quoted by Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying officials would pursue the issue ‘‘through anticipated legal channels at the UN.’’
Aboutalebi is alleged to have participated in a Muslim student group that held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days during the embassy takeover. He has said his involvement in the group Muslim Students Following the Imam’s Line was limited to translation and negotiation.
Iran says he is one of the country’s best diplomats, and that he previously received a US visa. He already served at Iranian diplomatic missions in Australia, Belgium, and Italy.
As host country for the United Nations, the United States must allow persons invited to the New York headquarters to enter the country. However, exceptions can be made when a visa applicant is found to have engaged in spying against the United States or poses a threat.
Denying visas to UN ambassadorial nominees or to foreign heads of state who want to attend United Nations events in the United States is rare, though there appears to be precedent. According to a paper published by Yale Law School, the United States in the 1980s rejected several Iranians appointed to the UN who had played roles in acts against American citizens.