Iran’s foreign minister, nuclear chief and oil minister have had their EU travel restrictions completely or temporarily lifted The European Union has been criticised for lifting travel bans on three senior Iranian officials after they were promoted. Iran’s foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, the nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi-Davani, and the oil minister, Rostam Ghasemi, were all previously subject to EU travel bans but have had their restrictions completely or temporarily lifted. When Salehi, a former head of Iran’s atomic energy organisation, was appointed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the country’s foreign minister in January, questions were raised about his ability to engage with the international community. But the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, soon signalled that Salehi’s travel ban could be lifted in hope of an agreement with Iran over its nuclear programme. In May, the EU suspended his travel ban to let him carry out his role as an “interlocutor” with other countries. The move came after Germany’s gay foreign minister, Guido Westerwell… >>>
