EU criticised for lifting travel bans on Iranian officials
Iran's foreign minister, nuclear chief and oil minister have had
their EU travel restrictions completely or temporarily lifted
Ali Akbar Salehi Iran's foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi,
whose travel ban was suspended to allow him to act as an
'interlocutor' with other countries. Photograph: Reuters  The
European Union has been criticised for lifting travel bans on
three senior Iranian officials after they were promoted.  Iran's
foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, the nuclear chief, Fereidoun
Abbasi-Davani, and the oil minister, Rostam Ghasemi, were all
previously subject to EU travel bans but have had their
restrictions completely or temporarily lifted.  When Salehi, a
former head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, was appointed
by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the country's foreign
minister in January, questions were raised about his ability to
engage with the international community.  But the EU foreign
policy chief, Catherine Ashton, soon s