Ros-Lehtinen: Keep Ahmadinejad out

The ranking Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is asking the president to ban Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from visiting the United States for the United Nations General Assembly.

"Our responsibility as the UN’s host country is trumped by our national security," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.). "The U.S. must not allow Ahmadinejad or any Iranian regime official into the U.S. for the September UN meeting."

Ros-Lehtinen argues in a letter to President Obama that, among other things, that the direct threat posed by Ahmadinejad to U.S. national security interests supersedes U.S. responsibilities under the United Nations Headquarters Act of 1947.

Meanwhile, the Simon Wiesenthal Center is urging United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to bar Iran’s new Defense Minister, Ahmad Vahidi from all UN events and facilities because of his suspected involvement in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Argentina. Noting the "red notice" that has been placed on Vahidi, Wiesenthal Center founder and dean Rabbi Marvin Hier said Vahidi should be arrested and sent to trial if he sets foot in any United Nations facility.

The full Ros-Lehtinen press release is after the jump:[[READMORE]]

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter to the President requesting that neither Iran’s Ahmadinejad nor any member of the Iranian regime be allowed to enter the U.S. under the guise of attending the upcoming session of the United Nations General Assembly.  Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

“Our responsibility as the UN’s host country is trumped by our national security.  The U.S. must not allow Ahmadinejad or any Iranian regime official into the U.S. for the September UN meeting.

“The Iranian regime oppresses its people; has long aided the global Islamist militant network; has called for the destruction of another UN member, Israel; and is engaged in the pursuit of longer range missiles and chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.

“The focus for the U.S. as the UN General Assembly meeting approaches should be on securing the adoption and enforcement of broader and stronger UN Security Council sanctions on the Iranian regime, and on cutting off nuclear technical assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency to Iran.” 

Note:  In the letter, Ros-Lehtinen noted that the direct threat posed by Ahmadinejad to U.S. national security interests supersedes U.S. responsibilities under the United Nations Headquarters Act of 1947. Ros-Lehtinen also noted Ahmadinejad’s appointment of several cabinet ministers who are affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has been designated by the U.S. for its involvement in proliferation activities and support for violent extremist groups.  Ros-Lehtinen also emphasized Ahmadinejad’s violation of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by his denial of the veracity of the Holocaust and his repeated calls for Israel and the U.S. to be destroyed.

And the SWC release:

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is urging United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to bar Iran’s new Defense Minister, Ahmad Vahidi from all UN events and facilities. Vahidi has an INTERPOL Red Notice warrant for his role in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Center in Buenos Aires that left 85 dead and hundreds wounded.

In a letter to Secretary General Ban, Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Center, said, “…the nomination of Vahidi to a level of Minister in the Iranian Government makes a mockery of all victims of international terrorism, an offense to Argentine sovereignty and is a scandal for the international community.” He urged Ban to call for a censure of Iran as a state sponsor of terror and that if Vahidi enter any UN facility, he be arrested and sent to Argentina for trial.

Hier also called on the UN to create a central registry of terrorism suspects much like the post-WWII CROWCRASS list used by the UN War Crimes Commission and countries to track down suspected Nazi war criminals.  “We feel that it behooves the United Nations to relaunch such a registry for the terrorism perpetrators of our day,” Hier wrote, adding that, “the Wiesenthal Center is ready to share in the preparation of an effective security tool vital for world stability.”

Center Associate Dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper added that Vahidi, who rose through the ranks of the Revolutionary Guard, was handpicked by President Ahmadinejad. “The appointment of this terrorist is a slap in the face to the Obama administration’s goal of open dialogue and all those who still believe the world can maintain a business as usual approach to Ahmadinejad and the mullahs. Vahidi will only be welcomed in Venezuela and North Korea–two close allies of the Iranian regime.”