MADRID — Former NATO chief Javier Solana says Monday his online application to enter the United States was turned down for having traveled to Iran, where he took part in negotiations on a nuclear deal.
“It’s a petty decision,” he tells Spanish television, explaining he had gone to Iran in 2013 to attend President Hassan Rohani’s swearing-in ceremony.
“I went as a representative for all those who negotiated” a deal later reached in 2015 aimed at ensuring Tehran would not develop a nuclear bomb, from which the United States withdrew in May.
“People must go to the most complicated countries to keep going with negotiations.
“What seems most shocking to me is that these people are treated the same way as others,” in terms of being allowed or denied entry.
The online entry application has to be completed by EU residents before trips to the United States of three months or less.
But since 2015, people having previously traveled to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, or Yemen can no longer get this fast-track authorization and have to apply for a visa.
The restriction does not normally apply to government employees, but Solana did not hold such a post in 2013.
— AFP
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