Carter's Son Refused Iran Visa
Saturday, February 20, 1999, TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran has refused
a visa to the son of former President Jimmy Carter, who broke diplomatic
ties with Iran in 1979, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported
today.
The agency quoted an unnamed source as saying that James E. ``Chip''
Carter III, who was to lead a group of Americans to Iran in May, was refused
a visa because of his ``past record.'' It did not elaborate.
About 25 former Peace Corps volunteers who served in Iran in the 1960s
and 1970s were expected to participate in the trip to Iran. The news agency
did not say whether they had been granted visas.
The younger Carter was quoted by an Iranian newspaper, Sobh-e Emrouz,
as saying that the delegation does not represent the government and has
a ``tourist agenda.''
He is vice president of the International Development with The Friendship
Force, a nonprofit group based in Atlanta. He was not immediately available
for comment.
President Carter was in office when the Islamic Revolution ousted the
U.S.-backed shah's government in Iran and took power in 1979.
In November that year, Iranian militants stormed the U.S. Embassy in
Tehran and took 52 Americans hostage. The event led to the severing of
diplomatic ties between the two countries.
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