Tehran, Dec 02: Iran has passed a law requiring
immigration officials to fingerprint US passport holders
despite President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's opposition to the
measure.
A spokesman for the Guardian Council, a constitutional
watchdog that must vet all bills before they become law,
announced the approval of the legislation today, the official
Iranian News Agency reported.
"The Guardian Council approved the bill requiring
inspecting and fingerprinting American nationals upon arrival
in Iran," Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei said today.
Kadkhodaei said the government "is required to inspect
and fingerprint all American nationals at entry ports and visa
issuance centres in consistency with the US behaviour." The
counsil approved the law earlier this week, he said.
Iran's Parliament passed the bill on November 19th.
Ahmadinejad last month said he was against the bill
because has no quarrel with ordinary Americans.
The power to cancel the law lies with Parliament and the
guardian council, which must pass a new legislation that
annuls the measure.
Conservatives drafted the law in retaliation for the US
requirement that Iranian visitors be fingerprinted. The US
measure, which also applies to nationals of some other
countries, was implemented after the September 11, 2001
terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki last month announced
his opposition to the parliamentary bill.
Small numbers of American passport holders visit Iran,
mostly academics interested in Iran's history and culture.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, December 02, 2006, 00:00