US Anti-Iranian Arrogance

By Stephen Lendman
4-13-14

Iranian President Hassan Rohani appointed Hamid Aboutalebi as permanent Tehran UN ambassador. It's effective July 25, 2014. More on him below.

Last week, Congress unanimously voted to deny him visa permission to enter America. Effectively he was declared persona non grata.

Legislation passed "den(ies) admission to the United States to any representative to the United Nations who has engaged in espionage activities against the United States, poses a threat to United States national security interests or has engaged in a terrorist activity against the United States."

Neocon Ted Cruz (R. TX) sponsored Senate legislation. He outrageously called Iran a "rogue nation."

Rep. Ed Royce (R. CA) was no better. He maliciously said appointing Aboutalebi "show(s) contempt for the United States."

"Congress has unanimously approved legislation that sends a message to Tehran: 'Application Denied.' "

On Thursday, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama opposes Aboutalebi's appointment. His position was "communicated to the Iranians that the selection they've put forward is not viable."

"We concur with the Congress and share the intent of (its) bill." Aboutalebi earlier was Tehran's ambassador to Australia, Italy, Belgium and the EU.

He served as Ministry of Foreign Affairs political director general. In the 1990s, he was part of Iran's New York UN delegation.

He holds a Belgium-based Katholieke University of Leuven historical sociology doctorate. He's a Sorbonne master's degree graduate. His bachelor's degree is from Tehran University.

His publications include Basic Challenges of US Foreign Policy towards Iran, Rocky Mountains of Nuclear Extremism, Turkey: Modern Diplomacy and New Ottoman Caliphate, and New Challenges of Iran Foreign Policy towards US.

His anthropological book is titled Anthropology of Ethics: First Volume of Philosophy of Social Ethics in 2013.

Iran denounced his rejection. It called doing so "not acceptable." It's illegal. More on this below.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham called Aboutalebi one of Iran's most capable diplomats.

Washington earlier granted him visa permission to enter America. Iran insists its appointment stands.

Iranian National Security and Foreign Policy Commission parliamentarian Mohammad Hassan Asafari called barring Aboutalebi "sheer interference in the internal affairs of the UN."

"The Americans are not entitled to the right to oppose the entry of the Islamic Republic of Iran's representative at the UN and the US Senate approval is illegal," he added.

All nations have sovereign rights to appoint their diplomatic representatives. Others have no right to interfere.

Washington ignores international laws, standards and norms. Its rules alone apply. Rogue states operate this way.

America is by far the worst in world history. None past or present match its ruthlessness. Numerous examples explain.

Denying Aboutalebi is its latest deplorable act. It's illegal. It violates an "Agreement Between the United Nations and the United States Regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, Signed June 26, 1947, and Approved by the General Assembly October 31, 1947."

At the time, General George Marshall was US Secretary of State. Trygve Lie was UN Secretary-General.

The Agreement said "federal, state or local authorities of the United States shall not impose any impediments to transit to or from the headquarters district of representatives of Members or officials of the United Nations."

Hassan Rohani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and other Iranian leaders freely attended New York UN sessions. So did Gaddafi, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, and Yasser Arafat.

Syria's permanent UN Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari attends Security Council and General Assembly sessions. So do Cuban and North Korean envoys.

Representatives from all UN member states may attend. It bears repeating. Denying them is illegal.

Aboutalebi is a distinguished diplomat. Deny him US entry is unacceptable. At issue was his alleged involvement during 444 Iranian hostage crisis days.

It lasted from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1971. Carter called holding dozens of US diplomats "victims of terrorism and anarchy."

Media scoundrels regurgitated Washington's position. They called hostage taking "vengeance and mutual incomprehension."

Aboutalebi had no involvement in what happened. He wasn't a hostage taker. He didn't participate in taking over America's embassy. He explained saying he only served as translator during negotiations.

At the time, he was a student. He was a Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line (MSFIL) member. So were others involved in occupying Washington's Tehran embassy.

They did so justifiably. They believed it was a den of espionage. They acted nonviolently. Participants were young.

They were orderly. They were well-behaved. They were calm, responsible men and women.

In February 2013, the film Argo took top honors. Hollywood's 85th Academy Awards chose it the year's top film. There's nothing best about it.

It should have been denounced. It was unconscionable anti-Iranian propaganda. It was malicious. It turned truth on its head.

It related a little known hostage crisis episode. Fifty-three Americans were held captive. Six others escaped.

Former Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor sheltered them in his home. He's highly critical. He said script writer Chris Terrio misportrayed events.

Argo recounts their rescue. It downplays Canada's involvement. Terrio took creative liberties. Scenes were fabricated.

People were mischaracterized. Iran's hospitable side was ignored. It's commonplace Hollywood practice. Truth is twisted to fit official US policy. It's systematically buried.

Argo is Iranophobic. It's trash. It's rubbish. It's fiction, not fact. It's unjust. It's one-sided. It's politically motivated.

It reinvented history. It turned it on its head. It bears no relation to what happened. It ignored the 1981 Algiers Accords. Iran and Washington signed it. Most Iranian assets were unblocked.

A day later, US hostages were released. It was moments before Reagan's inauguration. Washington want US/Iranian conciliation at the time concealed. It was short-lived.

Argo ignored what should have been featured. It bashed Iran unjustifiably in the process.

It's part of Washington's propaganda machine. It shouldn't surprise. Doing so is longstanding practice. Hollywood does it for profit.

America prioritizes unchallenged dominance. It deplores sovereign independence. It wants vassal governance replacing it. Don't expect Hollywood to explain

Argo was some of its worst propaganda. It fomented anti-Iranian hatred. It stereotypically portrayed Iran. It did so according to Western misinformation.

US Anti-Iranian policies persist. Rogue states operate this way. Scoundrel media regurgitate official policy. They march in lockstep. Hollywood follows the same script.

The New York Times downplayed denying Aboutalebi visa permission to perform his UN duties. A Mark Landler/Rick Gladstone article stopped short of denouncing it. They called Washington's decision "unusual."

A same day editorial was worse. It discussed ongoing Iranian/P5+1 nuclear talks. It's common knowledge in high places that Tehran's nuclear program has no military component.

Not according to Times editors. They lied saying it's "naive to understate how hard it will be to remove the threat of Iran's producing a nuclear weapon."

They discussed denying Aboutalebi's visa rejection. They ignored reality. They called congressional legislation doing so "unclear legality."

At the same time, they said Obama will "set an unfortunate precedent…saying (he'll) deny Mr. Aboutalebi a visa anyway."

As UN host, America "is supposed to admit" member states' envoys, they said. False! It's legally bound to do so. Failure violates the 1947 agreement.

Times editors outrageously called appointing Aboutalebi "a real misstep."

"It's hard to believe (Rohani) does not know how acutely the embassy takeover affected Americans and did not realize that he was handing hard-liners a new issue."

Times editors stopped short of explaining Aboutalebi's noninvolvement in what happened.

Twisting truth to fit US policy is longstanding Times practice. Failure to denounce Washington lawlessness shows which side they're on. Doing the right thing is systematically avoided.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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