New York, April 29 (DPA) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has applied for a visa to attend a nuclear non-proliferation conference at the United Nations in New York next month, US officials confirmed Wednesday.
Leaders and diplomats from dozens of countries are expected in New York beginning Monday to attend the review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty held every five years.
Iran is likely to be a major focus of the discussions as the US and its allies are pushing for UN Security Council sanctions to punish the Islamic republic over its nuclear activities.
US Ambassador Susan Rice confirmed that the application has been filed, but did not say whether the US Department of State would grant the visa. US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said Ahmadinejad would likely be allowed to attend.
“I don’t think that we’re going to stand in the way,” he told reporters in Washington.
The visas application for Ahmadinejad and his delegation were presented to the US embassy in Bern, Crowley said.
The three-week review conference at UN headquarters in New York will open on Monday. About 30 foreign ministers, including US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, are already set to address the conference.
