Iran’s nuclear chief was blocked from attending an annual conference at the headquarters of the UN’s nuclear agency in Vienna due to opposition from the United States, Iranian state television says.
“Mohammad Eslami and his delegation took a regular flight to Vienna on Saturday, but were blocked on the way because of obstructions by the United States,” the state broadcaster reports, saying he had returned to the capital Tehran.
He was due to attend the annual general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, which runs until Friday in Austria.
He attended last year’s conference and delivered a speech there on behalf of Iran, a member state of the IAEA.
Austria sought a waiver of the travel ban on Eslami with the UN sanctions committee, but it was not granted, an official said yesterday. The official wasn’t authorized to comment on the sensitive matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
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