TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A senior Iranian military official has urged the foreign ministry to name a new envoy to the U.N. after the U.S. blocked its chosen ambassador over alleged ties to the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

Semiofficial Fars news agency also quoted Gen. Mohammad Bagherzadeh as saying Saturday that Hamid Aboutalebi should remain close to his mother because the family lost two sons during the 1980-88 war with Iraq.