Iran bars CNN correspondent Amanpour
By The Associated Press
10.10.02
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour yesterday, saying it was in retaliation for U.S. treatment of Iranians who wanted to visit the United States.
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said it was "normal" to bar Amanpour — though her network is American, she is Iranian-British.
"Some Iranian journalists and artists, including film director Abbas Kiarostami, were either denied U.S. visas or left waiting for months for a decision. We, of course, take this into account," Kharrazi told reporters Wednesday.
Amanpour had been expected to accompany British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw during his visit to Tehran but had to get off the plane in Kuwait. Straw is on a swing through the region.
In a statement released by CNN in Atlanta, Amanpour said she was "disappointed in the Iranian government's decision."
"We believe the Iranian government's decision to ban Ms. Amanpour is inexplicable and unjustified," CNN spokeswoman Megan Mahoney added.
The Iranian-born Amanpour is also one of three CNN reporters, along with Wolf Blitzer and Richard Roth, who are currently refused entry to Iraq, the network said.
Eason Jordan, CNN president of newsgathering, called Iran's action "troubling and unwarranted."
CNN has no immediate hope of getting Amanpour into Iraq. The cable news network currently has correspondents Jane Arraf, Nic Robertson and Rula Amin stationed there.
In recent weeks, ABC News briefly had trouble getting visas approved for visiting journalists in Iraq because of Claire Shipman's interview with a former mistress of Saddam Hussein's. ABC News correspondent David Wright is now in Iraq.
Iran and the United States have not had ties since the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, where U.S. diplomats were held hostage during the fundamentalist Islamic revolution in 1979.
The United States has long required visiting Iranians to be fingerprinted upon arrival. More recently, as part of security measures taken in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, Iranians who apply for U.S. visas are among those who have been subject to time-consuming checks and are registered upon arrival. As part of the registration, the foreigners are required to provide photographs and details about plans in the United States in addition to fingerprints.
In Washington, a State Department official said it took longer now to evaluate visa applications from the countries on the State Department terrorism list, including Iran. Those applications come under special FBI scrutiny because of legislation approved after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.