Hamid Aboutalebi

On 1 April 2014, in the United States Senate, Republican Senator Ted Cruz introduced Senate bill 2195, a bill that would allow the President of the United States to deny a visa to any ambassador to the United Nations who has been found to have been engaged in espionage activities or a terrorist activity against the United States or its allies, and may pose a threat to U.S. national security interests. The bill was a reaction to Aboutalebi's selection as Iran's ambassador. The bill passed the Senate on 7 April, and the United States House of Representatives on 10 April. President Barack Obama signed the bill 18 April 2014.

Complicating the situation were the ongoing nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran. Some have argued that denying Abutalebi's entry to the United States would violate the 1947 treaty agreement which was a prerequisite for the United Nations' agreement to locate their headquarters in New York City. Aboutalebi was denied the visa on 12 April 2014.

His professional publications include Basic Challenges of U.S Foreign Policy towards Iran (2009), Rocky Mountains of Nuclear Extremism (2009), Turkey: Modern Diplomacy and New Ottoman Caliphate (2009), and New Challenges of Iran Foreign Policy towards U.S. (2010). He published Anthropology of Ethics; First Volume of Philosophy of Social Ethics in 2013.

Aboutalebi obtained his Ph.D. in historical sociology from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 1999, after having completed master's degrees in sociology (from Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris) and in the history of Islamic civilization and culture (from Tehran University). Aboutalebi also earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from Tehran University.

It has been claimed that Aboutalebi was one of the student radicals involved in the Iran hostage crisis, in which 52 Americans, including diplomats from the US embassy in Tehran, were held captive from 1979 to 1980.

Hamid Aboutalebi (Persian: حمید ابوطالبی ‎, born 16 June 1957) is an Iranian diplomat and ambassador. Aboutalebi was previously ambassador of Iran to Australia, the European Union, Belgium, Italy, and as political director general to Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was part of Iran's UN delegation in New York City in the 1990s.