Iran Prez applies for visa to go to UN

Washington: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has applied for a U.S. visa to attend the UN General Assembly this month, the State Department said.

A decision on the application is pending, Spokesman Sean McCormack said on Friday.

He noted that as host country for the United Nations, the United States normally approves visa requests from foreign leaders to travel to UN headquarters.

The administration is looking at the application "in the context of our obligations and our laws," McCormack said.

Ahmadinejad presumably would fly to New York from Cuba, where he plans to attend a summit meeting of Third World nations next week.