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Iran's new UN ambassador Hamid Aboutaleb took part in the 1979-81 hostage crisis at the US Embassy.Photo: AP
The White House came under intense pressure Tuesday to deny entry to Iran’s new ambassador to the United Nations because he participated in the humiliating 1979-81 hostage crisis at the US Embassy in Tehran.
Former hostage Barry Rosen said it would be “like spitting on us” if the Iranian diplomat — who may have been one of his captors — was granted entry.
New York Sen. Charles Schumer took on the Obama administration by firing off a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry demanding that the US blacklist the new ambassador, Hamid Aboutalebi.
The State Department has delayed making a decision on the touchy issue involving a rogue nation it is trying to bring into the world fold.
“Hamid Aboutalebi was a major conspirator in the Iranian hostage crisis and has no business serving as Iran’s ambassador to the UN,” Schumer told The Post.
“This man has no place in the diplomatic process, and the State Department should flat-out deny his visa application. Iran’s attempt to appoint Mr. Aboutalebi is a slap in the face to the Americans that were abducted, and their families; it reveals a disdain for the diplomatic process and we should push back in kind.”
Rosen, one of the 52 hostages held for 444 days in the tense standoff, was incensed that one of his captors might be welcomed into the country.
“It goes against the American grain to grant a visa to someone who was part of a group that tortured American diplomats and military and ruined the lives of 52 hostages and their families. He’s just as guilty as anyone of torture,” Rosen told The Post.
“It would be a travesty of justice. It would be like spitting on us.”
Rosen said Aboutalabi’s appointment shows that Iran is testing US resolve.
“Denying a visa to him would be a great statement to Iran,” he said.
Aboutalebi was a member of the group called Students Following the Imam’s Line— a reference to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini — that abducted and tortured US personnel attached to the embassy.
But Aboutalebi’s precise role during the crisis is not clear.
He told an Iranian news agency that he didn’t take part in the initial raid on the embassy, claiming he merely became a translator “purely based on humanitarian motivations.”
But that admission placed him smack in the middle of the chilling event.
The State Department has yet to act on the visa application
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