WANA (Sep 15) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry has sent a formal note of protest to Austria after preventing Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), from entering Vienna.

 

Eslami and his delegation traveled to Vienna on Saturday on a regular commercial flight, but were stopped at Istanbul Airport after they were denied permission to enter Austria. Vienna is home to the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and several other international organizations. Eslami returned to Tehran later that day.

 

According to the report, the restriction was imposed following intervention by the United States and a regional country. The move has also been linked to the activation of the so-called “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

 

Iran has stressed that senior political and nuclear officials have routinely been granted permission to enter Austria to attend meetings at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna. Eslami also attended the IAEA’s annual conference last year.

 

Meanwhile, Behrouz Kamalvandi and Mohammad Reza Kardan, the AEOI’s deputy heads for international affairs and nuclear safety, respectively, were able to travel to Vienna. Their names are not included on the UN sanctions list.

 

Eslami’s absence from the IAEA’s annual conference also led to Iran’s address at the meeting being postponed until Tuesday afternoon. In previous years, the AEOI chief had been among the first speakers representing Iran at the conference.