US Expels Two Iranian UN Delegation Members For Staying Beyond Departure Deadline

The United States has expelled two members of the Iranian delegation who attended the recent United Nations General Assembly after they remained in the country despite an order to leave, the State Department said Saturday.

“Two more members of the Iranian delegation were found still in New York long after the United Nations General Assembly had passed. They have now been kicked out of the US,” a US official told AFP, adding that Secretary of State Marco Rubio “means business.”

According to US media reports, the State Department had instructed Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his delegation to leave the United States on Monday. The department later moved to expel the two members after learning from Iran’s UN mission on Friday that they were still in the country.

One delegation member left New York late Friday, while the second departed Saturday morning, Axios reported.

US and Iranian officials had held talks in New York the previous week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

US President Donald Trump had rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but told US media that he expected talks between Washington and Tehran to resume in the coming days.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, however, reported that Tehran had no further direct talks scheduled with Washington.