Iran picks Gholamali Khoshru as new UN envoy

IRAN has selected a new envoy as ambassador to the United Nations in New York, 10 months after the US rejected its first choice.

The new candidate, Gholamali Khoshru, is a career diplomat who previously served as Iran’s ambassador to the UN.

Mr Khoshru, a moderate, is currently Iran’s ambassador to Switzerland.

In 2014, the US refused to grant a visa to Iran’s UN nominee, Hamid Abutalebi, for his supposed role in the Iran hostage crisis in 1979.

Mr Khoshru was Iran’s representative to the UN from 1989 to 1995, and served as Iran’s deputy foreign minister from 2002 to 2005.

According to a statement from Iran’s foreign ministry, Mr Khoshru will pursue through legal channels the perceived illegal actions taken by the US as the host country at the United Nations.

Iran is said to believe the White House’s refusal to grant Mr Abutalebi a visa is in contravention of international law and undermines a country’s right to appoint who they choose to the UN.

Washington, however, has said it can deny visas for security, terrorism and foreign policy reasons.

Mr Abutalebi was linked to the student group that took dozens of people hostage at the embassy in Tehran in 1979.

He subsequently said his role was limited solely to that of a translator.