DHAKA: Iran has complained to the United Nations over the decision by the United States to refuse a visa for its newly appointed permanent representative.

Iran’s deputy envoy at the UN in New York, Hossein Dehghani, wrote that the US had violated its legal obligations and set a dangerous precedent.

The US barred Hamid Aboutalebi because of his links to students who seized the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.

He has insisted that he acted merely as a translator on a couple of occasions.

A senior political adviser to president Hassan Rouhani, he has previously served as the Iranian ambassador to Italy, Belgium and Australia.

BDST: 1834 HRS, APR 15, 2014