Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Getty Images)
Two members of Iran’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly were “kicked out” of the United States after failing to comply with a State Department order to leave the country, Axios reported Sunday.
The Iranian diplomats remained in New York for several days after the Trump administration ordered Iran’s entire U.N. delegation to leave immediately, according to a U.S. official.
“Secretary [Marco] Rubio means business. Two more members of the Iranian delegation were found still in New York long after the U.N. General Assembly had passed. They have now been kicked out of the country,” the official told Axios.
The expulsions come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran as diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled and concerns grow about renewed fighting.
According to Axios, the State Department told Iran’s U.N. mission Monday that its entire delegation must leave the United States immediately.
U.S. officials learned that two Iranian diplomats had remained in New York despite the order. The Iranian mission was told again Friday that the diplomats had to depart immediately, the report said.
One left Friday night and the other departed Saturday morning, according to the U.S. official.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi disputed Washington’s account Sunday, insisting the diplomats had left according to schedule.
“All Iranian diplomats who attended UNGA, except one who departed earlier, left as scheduled,” Araghchi wrote on X.
Araghchi accused the U.S. of falsely portraying the departures as expulsions and said the move was inconsistent with America’s obligations as host nation to the United Nations.
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