Iran isolated as governments call off top-level visits

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Nov. 16 – A senior member of Iran’s parliament said on Wednesday that hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has had to cancel scheduled visits to several foreign countries, including Tunisia and the Czech Republic, while “a majority of governments around the world” have been canceling visits to their capitals by Iranian government delegations. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Nov. 16 – A senior member of Iran’s parliament said on Wednesday that hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has had to cancel scheduled visits to several foreign countries, including Tunisia and the Czech Republic, while “a majority of governments around the world” have been canceling visits to their capitals by Iranian government delegations.

Reza Talai-Nik, a member of the National Security Committee of the Majlis, said visits by Ahmadinejad and parliamentary delegations to several countries have been cancelled by the host nations “under official and unofficial pressure from the United States”.

“The Czech Republic and some other European countries invited our officials and then said they were not prepared to talk to us in the present circumstances”, the Majlis deputy said.

Talai-Nik said President Ahmadinejad called off his visit to Tunisia, where he was expected to attend the United Nations-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society, for a number of reasons, including “the cancellation of welcoming ceremonies [for Ahmadinejad”> by the Tunisian government and, more importantly, by the United Nations”.

Alluding to the worldwide repercussions of the October 26 speech by the Iranian president, in which he called for Israel to be “wiped off the map”, the Majlis deputy pointed out that in the wake of “recent developments”, most countries have been canceling visits to their capitals by official Iranian delegations.