The Biden administration has granted Iran’s foreign minister a U.S. visa so that he can attend upcoming United Nations proceedings in New York City, generating outrage in the wake of Tehran’s weekend strike on Israel.
Lawmakers are already calling on the Biden administration to revoke Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s entry visa into America, which will enable him to attend U.N. meetings later this week, the Washington Free Beacon has learned. While the State Department would not confirm whether it had granted the Iranian diplomat an entry visa, regional outlets are reporting that a U.S. entry visa has already been issued.
Sen. James Lankford (R., Okla.), in a letter sent Monday to the State Department and obtained by the Free Beacon, demanded “immediate action to revoke the visa of Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian,” appearing to confirm the regional reports.
“In the wake of Saturday’s direct attack by Iran on our ally, Israel, we urge you to prevent Iran from using American soil as a platform to amplify its anti-Israel and anti-American rhetoric,” Lankford wrote, referring to a weekend missile attack by Iran on Israel that threatens to spark a regional war.
Amir-Abdollahian is scheduled to attend U.N. sessions this week surrounding the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel.
A State Department spokesman declined to comment on the matter when approached by the Free Beacon, referring a reporter to a press briefing late last week by spokesman Matthew Miller.
