Entry ban for Iranian nuclear chief: Diplomatic dispute in Vienna

The Iranian nuclear chief and Vice President Mohammed Eslami has been refused entry to Austria for an important meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The decision caused a diplomatic dispute between Iran, Austria and the United States at the start of the annual conference of all IAEA member countries in Vienna.

Eslami is subject to UN sanctions, which include entry bans. Austria had applied for an exception to the responsible committee of the UN Security Council, but this was refused, explained Austria's UN ambassador in Vienna, Christian Ebner, at the beginning of the IAEA conference.

US Ambassador Preston Wells Griffith said his country supported the move. Washington could not allow Eslami's trip because of Tehran's lack of cooperation with IAEA nuclear inspectors, he said. “His participation would only have led to Iran using the IAEA as a propaganda stage,” he said in Vienna. Griffith also blamed Eslami for producing near-nuclear weapons-grade uranium.

In response, the Foreign Ministry in Tehran summoned the Austrian charge d'affaires, as Foreign Office spokesman Ismail Baghai explained. Austria has discredited itself as a host for international organizations, said Tehran's UN ambassador in Vienna, Reza Najafi. The diplomat accused the USA of having ensured the denial of entry.

The sanctions were imposed on Eslami in 2008. The Security Council found at the time that Eslami, as head of a military research institute, was involved in activities with a possible connection to nuclear weapons. The IAEA assumes that such a research program existed until 2003, and possibly even later in some areas. Tehran vehemently denies that it is seeking nuclear weapons.

Last week, the IAEA Board of Governors decided to re-involve the UN Security Council in the nuclear dispute with Iran. This step was initiated by the USA, Germany, France and Great Britain. The IAEA Council expressed concern that the IAEA does not have up-to-date information on uranium stocks or access to the country's nuclear facilities.

In view of the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities by the USA and Israel, Tehran argues that the IAEA is endangering national security with local information. Conservative hardliners even accused IAEA chief Rafael Grossi of espionage. Parliamentarians are also pushing ahead with plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.