Eight Republican senators introduced legislation on Thursday that would bar sanctioned Iranians from entering the United States as diplomatic representatives to the United Nations.
Under the Strengthening Entry Visa Enforcement and Restrictions (SEVER) Act, any Iranian official designated under Executive Order 13876 would be barred from receiving a diplomatic visa for entering the United States.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), one of the co-sponsors of the bill, accused the Iranian regime of responsibility for the “murder, injury and kidnapping of thousands of Americans.”
“If you are a crony of the ayatollah who has been sanctioned by the United States, it means that you pose a threat to the safety and security of Americans, and you should not be allowed on American soil—let alone to engage in diplomacy at the United Nations General Assembly,” Cruz stated.
Cruz and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) led the bill, joined by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.). Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) introduced the House companion legislation.
More than 100 people and entities are designated for sanctions under Executive Order 13876, which U.S. President Donald Trump signed in 2019 in an effort to target the inner circle of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The United States and Iran have not had diplomatic relations since 1980, and the State Department imposes travel restrictions on Iranian diplomats posted to Turtle Bay.
On Monday, the department announced that Iranian diplomats would be forbidden from shopping at luxury and wholesale stores.
In 2019, the State Department rejected a request from Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister and one of the officials sanctioned under Executive Order 13876, to visit Iran’s U.N. ambassador at a New York hospital where he was receiving cancer treatment.
