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Austria has refused to allow Mohammad Eslami, Iran’s vice president for nuclear affairs, to address the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference in Vienna.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports, citing Bloomberg.
According to the report, the decision was made after pressure from the administration of US President Donald Trump. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Eslami had been scheduled to address the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday, but Austria denied him entry into the country. The official said the refusal to grant a sanctions waiver required by the United Nations to allow Eslami to enter Austria came after persistent US requests.
A lower-ranking Iranian representative may address the meeting later in the week, but Tehran’s senior official will not attend the opening of the conference. Before tensions escalated again, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow welcomed the signing of a memorandum on a ceasefire between Iran and the United States, while warning that the truce was unstable and extremely fragile.
The IAEA General Conference is the agency’s principal annual policymaking gathering, bringing together representatives of its member states to discuss nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards and international nuclear cooperation.
