Shirin Saeidi

This article was retrieved from Payvand.com:

United Nations, New York, Feb 29, IRNA - Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Mohammad Khazaei has in a letter to the UN Chief Ban Ki-moon protested the US refusal to issue visas for Iranian women delegation.

The letter, a copy of which was made available to IRNA, said time has come for the international community to consider the change of the venue of the United Nations meetings in view of the repeated failure of the Host Country to abide by its obligations under the Headquarters Agreement to facilitate the participation of member States in the United Nations related meetings.

The full text of the letter is as follows:

"In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

"Excellency,

"Upon instruction from my Government, I would like to convey our dismay over the denial of entry visa by the authorities of the Host Country to the women delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran to attend the Fifty-Second session of the Commission on the Status of Women (25 February-7 March 2008).

"Due to this arbitrary, unjustifiable and politically-motivated act of the Host country, which not only contravenes the obligations of the Host Country contained in the Headquarters Agreement but also violates the provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations of a Universal Character of 14 March 1975, the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been deprived of its right to attend the fifty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women and to contribute to its deliberations, for the second consecutive year.

"Participation at the fifty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women was a precious opportunity for active engagement of the Iranian women to exchange views and experiences with their counterparts. However, due to the refusal to issue entry visa for them this valuable opportunity was taken away from the Iranian delegation.

"The women delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran had made necessary preparation for the active participation in the Meeting, especially by preparing practical and action-oriented reports on the allocation of resources to the advancement of women in various fields, and had wished to bring those innovative proposals to the attention of other participants.

"Time has come for the international community to consider the change of the venue of the United Nations meetings in view of the repeated failure of the Host Country to abide by its obligations under the Headquarters Agreement to facilitate the participation of member States in the United Nations related meetings.

The Islamic Republic of Iran expresses its strong protest over the failure of the Host Country to honor its legal obligations, and expects the United Nations to take effective measures to protect the sovereign right of Member States and ensure their participation in the UN meetings and events.

"The host country is committed to take appropriate measures to respect its obligations in accordance with the Headquarters Agreement and other relevant international instruments, prevent the recurrence of such failures in the future and ensure the unimpeded entry into the United States of official representatives of Member States.

"I would appreciate if you could bring this issue to the attention of the United Nations relevant bodies, including the Committee on Relations with the Host Country."