by Bridget Johnson
The Hill
1/3/2010
Iranian legislators on Sunday decided to not allow a visit from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.), according to Iranian media.
“Members of the Iranian parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee (a subcommittee of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission) voiced opposition to the request after studying the issue,” Hassan Ebrahimi, head of the committee, told the semi-official Fars News Agency.
Several Iranian news outlets reported last week that Kerry had submitted an official request to visit Tehran in an emissary role.
Kerry spokesman Frederick Jones told the Wall Street Journal before Christmas, though, that no trip had been scheduled. “Is he planning now on going to Iran? The answer is no,” said Jones.
When asked Sunday if Kerry had filed a travel request as claimed or if Iran had taken pre-emptive action against talk of a visit, Jones told The Hill, “John Kerry has no plans to travel to Iran.”
The article continues at The Hill.
