Austria bars Iran's nuclear chief from IAEA conference in Vienna

Austria has barred Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, from entering its territory to address the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors meeting in Vienna.

• Eslami was scheduled to deliver a speech to the Board of Governors on Monday, a US official told Bloomberg, speaking on condition of anonymity.
• The official said Washington urged rejection of a UN request for a sanctions waiver that would have allowed Eslami into Austria.
• Austria had sought an exemption from the UN Security Council sanctions committee's travel ban on Eslami, but the request was not granted.
• The exclusion comes after the IAEA adopted a resolution referring Iran's nuclear file to the UN Security Council, an initiative led by Western countries.
• US Ambassador Preston Wells Griffith III defended the decision, saying it would prevent Iran from using the meeting as a propaganda platform.
• Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, called the visa denial a violation of the legal framework governing IAEA meetings.
• Iran's Foreign Ministry accused the US of orchestrating the move.