A slimmed-down Iranian delegation will arrive in New York this week to attend the United Nations General Assembly as President Donald Trump touts the possibility of “very big events” amid the Middle East war.
Iran, a founding member of the United Nations, has maintained a presence at global diplomatic events for decades, most recently led by the country’s President Massoud Pezeshkian and his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi.
But the presence of an Iranian delegation this year in the headquarters of a country at war is unprecedented in recent years.
The Trump administration announced it would allow a “core delegation” of Iran, including Pezeshkian, to visit New York.
This year’s delegation will be smaller than the 2025 convention, which took place months before the start of the U.S.-Iran war, a State Department spokesperson announced Thursday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragushi will arrive in New York on Monday, and Mr. Pezeshkian will travel to the United States on Tuesday, state media said. The exact composition of Iran’s broader delegation is not yet known.
“Consistent with host country obligations, core delegations of the Iranian regime may attend United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week,” a State Department spokesperson said.
“The delegation will be subject to travel restrictions and will be prohibited from purchasing luxury goods and other goods in accordance with our (sanctions) policy,” the official said.
Article 11 of the United Nations Headquarters Agreement states that U.S. authorities “shall not impose any impediment” to the access of United Nations personnel and representatives of member states to New York headquarters.
There has been no publicized US attack on Iran for more than two weeks.
Despite the lull, President Trump suggested a major decision on Iran could be coming, comments that risk exacerbating tensions between the two countries ahead of diplomatic meetings.
Meanwhile, Iran has warned that any new attack by the United States would trigger sustained attacks on American military bases and interests across the region.
Iran’s Central Command said on Sunday that it had received information that the United States, with the support of some regional countries, was preparing to resume action against Iran, the country’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
President Trump said on Fox News over the weekend that he is in “decision mode” and that “very big things” could happen soon. Details were not disclosed.
yes. Iran has attended the General Assembly in various capacities for decades, through turbulent times and moments of diplomatic progress. Khamenei addressed parliament in 1987, when he was president, two years before becoming supreme leader. Khamenei was killed in an Israeli airstrike in late February, shortly after the start of the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran.
Notably, in 2015, then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told world leaders that the landmark Iran nuclear deal signed that year (a focus of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy) was a “war victory” and should bring peace to the Middle East.
But this year, the peace President Rouhani spoke of seems increasingly remote, with no sign of renewed talks between Washington and Tehran.
The closest international event to wartime talks this year may have been Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s visit to Israel in 1977, when the two countries were technically at war — but even that was part of a larger peace process.
U.S. officials said the U.S. Secret Intelligence Service will provide security for Iran’s president during the United Nations General Assembly. Other Iranian representatives will be protected by the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, officials said.
Federal security agencies will be supported by NYPD intelligence officers, as well as NYPD detectives and Highway Patrol escorts, officials told CNN.
A State Department official said the visiting Iranian delegation “is authorized to enter the United States solely for the purpose of representing the Islamic Republic of Iran at the United Nations” and must “confine its activities to United Nations-related business.”
The official added that if Iranians wish to travel near United Nations Headquarters, John F. Kennedy International Airport, or the Iranian Mission to the United Nations facilities, they “must seek and receive prior approval” from the State Department.
The United States has restricted the movement of Iranian delegations in the past.
Last year, the Trump administration announced it would prevent Iranian diplomats from accessing “wholesale club stores” such as Costco and purchasing luxury goods while in the United States. A State Department spokesperson said this policy will continue.
Iranian officials who visited New York for last year’s United Nations General Assembly were also restricted to “areas strictly necessary for travel to and from the United Nations headquarters area in order to carry out official United Nations business.”
In 2019, amid heightened tensions between the two countries, the United States imposed restrictions on the movement of visiting delegations.
Iran is not alone in facing obstacles to access. The Trump administration has once again denied a visa to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He is likely to address the chamber via video.
