The US State Department said on Saturday, 3 October 2026, that two members of the Islamic Republic's delegation who had remained in New York long after the end of the UN General Assembly session had been expelled from US soil. According to the department, one of them left the United States on Friday night and the other on Saturday morning.
According to Middle East Eye, the State Department had told the Islamic Republic's mission to the UN on Monday that all members of the delegation of Abbas Araghchi, the Islamic Republic's foreign minister, must leave US soil immediately. On Friday the department informed the Islamic Republic's mission that it knew two members of the delegation were still in New York and again demanded their immediate departure. A State Department official stressed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is serious about the matter.
Tehran's different account
The Islamic Republic's mission to the UN had earlier denied any expulsion, saying the Iranian delegation left New York on Monday night in line with a schedule communicated to the US State Department on 17 September. The mission called the reports of expulsion baseless and said the State Department had resorted to publishing such reports after failing to achieve any results.
Deadlocked talks
According to The National, Rubio's order for the Islamic Republic's delegation to leave was issued after indirect talks between Washington and Tehran, mediated by Qatar, failed to produce results. The talks have centred on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resuming nuclear negotiations. Araghchi had said in New York that the strait could be reopened if the necessary conditions were met and that the choice now lies with the United States.
The development comes as tension between the two countries has risen again: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Islamic Republic's parliament, said on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until Tehran's conditions are met, and the United States has sent its third aircraft carrier to the region.
Washington says two Islamic Republic diplomats were expelled from the US after ignoring an order to leave; Tehran rejects this account.
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