Rubio Orders Iranian UN Delegation To Leave US After Talks Stall
By The Media Line Staff
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered Iran’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly to leave the United States immediately after indirect diplomatic negotiations reached a stalemate, with the Iranian mission disputing that it had been expelled.
The US mission to the UN informed the Iranian delegation, which included Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, on Monday evening that its members had to leave New York immediately, according to Axios.
“Secretary Rubio kicked out the Iranian delegation who had overstayed their welcome. The UN General Assembly was over, so it was time for them to go,” a US official said.
Washington had hoped to make progress in indirect negotiations mediated by Qatar. By Monday afternoon, however, the talks had reached a deadlock after the United States rejected Iranian demands to alter the format and location of upcoming negotiations.
Qatari mediators have continued discussions with both sides over a compromise proposal, regional sources said.
Iran’s delegation left New York on a flight to Doha early Tuesday morning. Regional sources said Araghchi had already been loosely scheduled to return to Tehran around that time, despite Rubio’s directive for the delegation to leave the United States.
Iran’s permanent mission to the UN rejected the US account that the delegation had been expelled. In a statement on X, the mission said its departure had been planned in advance and that its itinerary had been communicated to the US State Department weeks earlier, on September 17.
The directive followed the conclusion of the UN General Assembly and the failure of the indirect negotiations to produce progress. The disagreement over the delegation’s departure left Washington and Tehran offering different accounts of why the Iranian officials left New York, while Qatari mediators continued efforts to advance their compromise proposal.
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