Austria denies visa to Iran’s nuclear chief for IAEA conference

Austria denied visa to Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami, preventing him from attending an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conference in Vienna, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported.

Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and his accompanying delegation had planned to travel to Vienna on Saturday but later returned to Tehran, according to IRIB.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei on Monday confirmed the visa refusal, calling the move “absolutely unjustified.”

He said Tehran had formally protested the decision and summoned Austria’s charge d’affaires, adding that US pressure should not prevent host countries from fulfilling their obligations.