Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08USUNNEWYORK1076
2008-11-17 22:26:00
CONFIDENTIAL
USUN New York
Cable title:
IRAN UN AMBASSADOR PROTESTS VISA DELAY/DENIAL AT
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 PP RUEHWEB DE RUCNDT #1076 3222226 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 172226Z NOV 08 FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5379 INFO RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA PRIORITY 0531
C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 001076
SIPDIS
PASS TO IO/UNP - EDMONDSON, CA/VO/P/D MUNTEAN, CA/VO/L/C -
HOWARD, L/DL - GRESSER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2028
TAGS: OFDP CVIS PREL IR
SUBJECT: IRAN UN AMBASSADOR PROTESTS VISA DELAY/DENIAL AT
UN HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE MEETING
REF: A. A) USUN 00968
B. B) 1983 STATE 257713 ET AL
Classified By: DEPUTY US REPRESENTATIVE, AMBASSADOR ALEJANDRO D. WOLFF,
REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 001076
SIPDIS
PASS TO IO/UNP - EDMONDSON, CA/VO/P/D MUNTEAN, CA/VO/L/C -
HOWARD, L/DL - GRESSER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2028
TAGS: OFDP CVIS PREL IR
SUBJECT: IRAN UN AMBASSADOR PROTESTS VISA DELAY/DENIAL AT
UN HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE MEETING
REF: A. A) USUN 00968
B. B) 1983 STATE 257713 ET AL
Classified By: DEPUTY US REPRESENTATIVE, AMBASSADOR ALEJANDRO D. WOLFF,
REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D)
1. (U) Action request - See paragraph 5.
2. (SBU) At the October 31, 2008, meeting of the UN Committee
on Relations with the Host Country, the Committee quickly
adopted its annual report, including the recommendations and
conclusions (previously faxed to IO/UNP). The Iran Mission's
Deputy Permanent Representative (whose attendance at a
Committee meeting was surprising) took the floor to protest
the denial of an official visa by the U.S. as host country to
a prominent Iranian law professor, Jamshid Momtaz. Dr. Momtaz
was to attend an official UN meeting at UN Headquarters, and
the Iranians had filed his visa application on August 13,
more than two months prior to the UN meeting in late October.
USUN Host Country Affairs Minister Counselor replied that the
applicant had not been denied a visa, that visa denials for
foreign officials coming to the UN for official UN meetings
required special procedures involving very senior levels of
the State Department, and if the Iran Mission had, like other
Missions faced with a problem, contacted USUN sufficiently in
advance, then USUN would likely have been able to resolve the
matter in time for the professor to be able to attend the
meeting. (Comment: Jamshid Momtaz has been a frequent visitor
to the UN Sixth (Legal) Committee for more than a decade. He
is a Senior Legal Adviser to Iran's MFA and was a member of
the International Law Commission from 2000-2006. The
Commission's Report was being discussed in the committee from
October 27 - November 5. End Comment).
3. (C) Coming on the heels of the delay in visa issuance (now
being resolved) to incoming Iranian UN Mission Second
Secretary, Mohsen KESHAVARZ SALEH, USUN is now faced with the
above visa protest re Dr. Momtaz, which was repeated in the
General Assembly's Sixth Committee on November 14. We note
from the CCD that the applicant had at least one "G" visa to
the US in late 2007, valid until February 2008. The Iran
Mission has requested an explanation concerning the visa
delay in the Momtaz case. The Headquarters Agreement requires
that the host country issue visas promptly. The applicant
applied more than 2 months in advance to travel to a UN
meeting in late October. Amembassy Vienna requested the
required Security Advisory Opinion (SAO) in mid-August. It is
possible that the MFA in Tehran, the Iran Embassies in
Vienna, Bern and elsewhere, and Iran's UN Mission in NY might
not communicate with each other effectively re visa delays.
Ideally, the MFA in Tehran should let its Iran Embassies
abroad (especially Bern and Vienna where many, if not most,
Iranian officials pick up their visas en route to NY) and its
Iran UN Mission in NY know of any delays or problems
encountered so these Iranian posts could then alert the US
Embassies in Bern, Vienna and USUN in NY, respectively,
regarding the need for the U.S. to expedite visa issuance.
4. (C) USUN has been confronted with an increasing number of
complaints from UN missions about visa delays. Since as early
as 1983, USUN has informed missions (reftel B) that visa
applications may take 15 business days to process. Missions
and the UN Legal Counsel have not objected strongly to this
practice, but both recently expressed concerns about
open-ended delays which they complain represent virtual
denials. Several months ago the outgoing UN Legal
Counsel/Under Secretary General, Nicolas Michel, raised the
USG's failure to issue a timely visa to the UNIDO Legal
Adviser (an Iranian) in Vienna to attend a meeting the Under
Secretary General had convened in NY. Visiting CA/VO/P/D
chief and USUN discussed visa delays recently with the UN
Assistant Secretary General/Deputy UN Legal Counsel (reftel).
5. (SBU) USUN urges Department to provide timely notification
that visa applications have been processed or denied. Denials
should be made pursuant to the terms of the modus vivendi
between the UN and the Department which has been followed
since it was established in the 1950's.
Khalilzad
SIPDIS
PASS TO IO/UNP - EDMONDSON, CA/VO/P/D MUNTEAN, CA/VO/L/C -
HOWARD, L/DL - GRESSER
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2028
TAGS: OFDP CVIS PREL IR
SUBJECT: IRAN UN AMBASSADOR PROTESTS VISA DELAY/DENIAL AT
UN HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE MEETING
REF: A. A) USUN 00968
B. B) 1983 STATE 257713 ET AL
Classified By: DEPUTY US REPRESENTATIVE, AMBASSADOR ALEJANDRO D. WOLFF,
REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D)
1. (U) Action request - See paragraph 5.
2. (SBU) At the October 31, 2008, meeting of the UN Committee
on Relations with the Host Country, the Committee quickly
adopted its annual report, including the recommendations and
conclusions (previously faxed to IO/UNP). The Iran Mission's
Deputy Permanent Representative (whose attendance at a
Committee meeting was surprising) took the floor to protest
the denial of an official visa by the U.S. as host country to
a prominent Iranian law professor, Jamshid Momtaz. Dr. Momtaz
was to attend an official UN meeting at UN Headquarters, and
the Iranians had filed his visa application on August 13,
more than two months prior to the UN meeting in late October.
USUN Host Country Affairs Minister Counselor replied that the
applicant had not been denied a visa, that visa denials for
foreign officials coming to the UN for official UN meetings
required special procedures involving very senior levels of
the State Department, and if the Iran Mission had, like other
Missions faced with a problem, contacted USUN sufficiently in
advance, then USUN would likely have been able to resolve the
matter in time for the professor to be able to attend the
meeting. (Comment: Jamshid Momtaz has been a frequent visitor
to the UN Sixth (Legal) Committee for more than a decade. He
is a Senior Legal Adviser to Iran's MFA and was a member of
the International Law Commission from 2000-2006. The
Commission's Report was being discussed in the committee from
October 27 - November 5. End Comment).
3. (C) Coming on the heels of the delay in visa issuance (now
being resolved) to incoming Iranian UN Mission Second
Secretary, Mohsen KESHAVARZ SALEH, USUN is now faced with the
above visa protest re Dr. Momtaz, which was repeated in the
General Assembly's Sixth Committee on November 14. We note
from the CCD that the applicant had at least one "G" visa to
the US in late 2007, valid until February 2008. The Iran
Mission has requested an explanation concerning the visa
delay in the Momtaz case. The Headquarters Agreement requires
that the host country issue visas promptly. The applicant
applied more than 2 months in advance to travel to a UN
meeting in late October. Amembassy Vienna requested the
required Security Advisory Opinion (SAO) in mid-August. It is
possible that the MFA in Tehran, the Iran Embassies in
Vienna, Bern and elsewhere, and Iran's UN Mission in NY might
not communicate with each other effectively re visa delays.
Ideally, the MFA in Tehran should let its Iran Embassies
abroad (especially Bern and Vienna where many, if not most,
Iranian officials pick up their visas en route to NY) and its
Iran UN Mission in NY know of any delays or problems
encountered so these Iranian posts could then alert the US
Embassies in Bern, Vienna and USUN in NY, respectively,
regarding the need for the U.S. to expedite visa issuance.
4. (C) USUN has been confronted with an increasing number of
complaints from UN missions about visa delays. Since as early
as 1983, USUN has informed missions (reftel B) that visa
applications may take 15 business days to process. Missions
and the UN Legal Counsel have not objected strongly to this
practice, but both recently expressed concerns about
open-ended delays which they complain represent virtual
denials. Several months ago the outgoing UN Legal
Counsel/Under Secretary General, Nicolas Michel, raised the
USG's failure to issue a timely visa to the UNIDO Legal
Adviser (an Iranian) in Vienna to attend a meeting the Under
Secretary General had convened in NY. Visiting CA/VO/P/D
chief and USUN discussed visa delays recently with the UN
Assistant Secretary General/Deputy UN Legal Counsel (reftel).
5. (SBU) USUN urges Department to provide timely notification
that visa applications have been processed or denied. Denials
should be made pursuant to the terms of the modus vivendi
between the UN and the Department which has been followed
since it was established in the 1950's.
Khalilzad