Iran Protests to Austria After Nuclear Chief Barred From IAEA Meeting
According to a news agency, the ministry sent an official letter protesting Austria's refusal to grant entry authorization to Mohammad Eslami, vice president and head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
Eslami and his delegation set out for Vienna on a regular flight Saturday but were halted at Istanbul Airport after it emerged he lacked the necessary clearance to enter Austria. He flew back to Tehran later that same day.
The news agency reported that the authorization was withheld due to "obstruction" from the US and an unnamed regional country. The agency said the denial is believed to stem from the reactivation of the United Nations "snapback" sanctions mechanism tied to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Two of Eslami's deputies at the AEOI, Behrouz Kamalvandi and Mohammad Reza Kardani, were not affected, as neither appears on the UN sanctions list, and both were able to travel to Vienna as planned.
In previous years, senior Iranian political and nuclear officials have received authorization to attend meetings at IAEA headquarters, and Eslami himself was present at last year's annual conference.
Because of his absence this year, Iran's scheduled address to the conference was pushed back to Tuesday afternoon.
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