November 26, 2024

Statement by Chair of UN Host Country Committee, Ambassador Nicholas Emiliou of Cyprus

UN Headquarters

April 22, 2014

Good afternoon everyone and thank you for coming here. As you know we had the 266th meeting of the Committee on the Relations with the Host Country. Among the issues that we dealt with was the issue of entry visas by the host country, where Iran and the United States presented their views on the well known incident concerning the denial of visa to the new Permanent Representative of Iran. There was a discussion with the participation of several delegations, and the Committee decided to remain seized of the issue and we will revert to it if necessary.

Question: What does that mean Sir? What we can expect in the days to come?

Ambassador Emiliou: Well the meeting of course is private and so I’m not at liberty to reveal what has been discussed. I have said that the Committee remains seized of the issue and of course we will continue being in touch with the interested delegations.

Question: How the US justify the denial of the visa given the language of the Host Country Committee and also did you discuss banking issue. I was told by one member that the issue of bank account also rose.

Ambassador Emiliou: Well, I cannot talk for each delegation. Of course you’ll have to address yourself to the United States delegation. The banking issue was briefly touched upon and we continue working on that, but I expect to have positive developments on that in the near future.

Thank you.