Iran nuclear chief blocked from Vienna meeting after US pressure

Iran's nuclear chief was blocked from attending an annual conference on Monday at the headquarters of the UN's nuclear agency in Vienna after US pressure, both Washington and Tehran said.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed to reporters that Washington had applied pressure to stop Mohammad Eslami from entering Austria, saying "he's a sanctioned individual and we don't want sanctioned individuals evading their sanctions".

"He asked for a waiver of the sanctions and it was denied."

Iranian state TV said Eslami and a delegation "took a regular flight to Vienna on Saturday, but were blocked on the way because of obstructions by the United States".

Behrouz Kamalvandi, a senior official from Iran's nuclear agency, accused the US of "bullying political pressure" and told AFP the move set a precedent that would affect everybody.

The Austrian foreign ministry told AFP it had requested an exemption for Eslami, who is covered by a UN travel ban, but that the Security Council rejected it "due to a lack of consensus".

Eslami was due to attend the annual general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog, which runs until Friday.

He attended last year's event and delivered a speech there on behalf of Iran, a member state of the IAEA.

Iran's representative to the agency, Reza Najafi, called UN sanctions against Eslami an "unfounded narrative of certain Western states".

Britain, Germany and France triggered a so-called "snapback" process last year under a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal, alleging Tehran was not meeting its obligations, leading to the re-imposition of the UN sanctions.

Tehran summoned Austria's charge d'affaires in response to the decision to bar Eslami.

"It is clear to us that this incident occurred under American pressure, but that does not absolve the Austrian government of responsibility," foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP, calling it a "completely unjustified decision".

The United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28.

For decades, Western powers have accused the Islamic republic of seeking nuclear weapons, a claim that Tehran categorically denies.

burs-jza/dcp