The House of Representatives today passed a bill denying admission to anyone “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,” to serve as representatives to the United Nations. Though he is not named in the bill, Iran’s choice to be its next representative at the UN, Hamid Aboutalebi, is the clear target of the legislation, due to his association with the group that instigated the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979.

The passage of the House bill, which was introduced by Representative Doug Lamborn (R-CO), follows the passage of a related bill introduced by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) that passed the Senate earlier this week. Both bills passed by unanimous consent. The bill tightens the language of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 (.pdf), but a waiver still exists allowing the President to allow in such an individual if he determines that it serves the “national security interests” of the United States.

Aboutalebi was a member of the Muslim Students Following the Imam’s Line, the group that took 52 Americans hostage in 1979 and held them in the American embassy in Tehran for 444 days.

The administration has expressed disapproval of the appointment. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf called the choice “extremely troubling.” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that the administration has communicated to Iran that Aboutalebi is “not viable.”

The bipartisan opposition to the Iranian pick was reflected in statements by both Sen. Cruz and his co-sponsor, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY).  In a speech reported by the Washington Post, Cruz said:

It is unconscionable that in the name of international diplomatic protocol the United States would be forced to host a foreign national who showed a brutal disregard of the status of diplomats when they were stationed in his country. This person is an acknowledged terrorist.

Schumer told the New York Post:

Hamid Aboutalebi was a major conspirator in the Iranian hostage crisis and has no business serving as Iran’s ambassador to the UN.

This man has no place in the diplomatic process, and the State Department should flat-out deny his visa application. Iran’s attempt to appoint Mr. Aboutalebi is a slap in the face to the Americans that were abducted, and their families; it reveals a disdain for the diplomatic process and we should push back in kind.”

Aboutalebi has also been accused of involvement in the assassination of Mohamed Hossein Naghdi, a prominent Iranian defector, who was murdered in Rome while Aboutalebi was serving as Iran’s ambassador to Italy.

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