Two members of Iran’s delegation to the UN General Assembly in New York were “kicked out” of the country on Saturday, several days after they were asked to leave, a U.S. official said.
- “Secretary Rubio means business. Two more members of the Iranian delegation were found still in New York long after the UN General Assembly had passed. They have now been kicked out of the country,” the official said.
Why it matters: It’s the latest sign of tension between the two countries as diplomatic efforts to end the war falter and the prospect of renewed combat rises.
The U.S. official said the two Iranian diplomats did not obey a State Department demand to the Iranian mission to the UN on Monday that its entire delegation leave the country immediately.
- On Friday, the Iranian mission to the UN was told the U.S. was aware the two diplomats were still in New York despite having asked them to leave. Iran was told again the two need to leave immediately.
- One of the Iranian diplomats left on Friday night and the second on Saturday morning, the official said.
Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi , as usual disputed the U.S. account in a post on X Sunday.
- “All Iranian diplomats who attended UNGA, except one who departed earlier, left as scheduled,” he wrote. “Taking pride in fake diplomat “expulsion” is inappropriate for the head of any diplomatic corps. It oozes of desperation and defeat, and is inconsistent with UN host nation obligations.”
- This comes after Rubio demanded on Monday that the Iranian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly immediately leave the country after negotiations stalled, according to a U.S. official and a second source with knowledge of the matter.
- Though the Iranians were likely to depart soon anyway, Rubio’s move was a highly unusual diplomatic rebuke and laid bare the deep distrust between the two countries amid fruitless efforts to broker an end to the war.
- Qatari mediators tried to secure a diplomatic breakthrough between the U.S. and Iran but made little progress, with neither side willing to budge.
