US orders Iranian delegation to “leave the country”

It was claimed that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after the deadlock in negotiations between Washington and Tehran, asked the Iranian delegation, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, to leave the country immediately.

An anonymous US official speaking to Axios news platform claimed that while the White House believed progress could be made in talks with Iran on Monday morning, September 28, it concluded that negotiations were deadlocked by the afternoon.

Following this, it was alleged that at Rubio’s instruction, Araqchi and his accompanying delegation, who were in the country to attend the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, were asked to leave New York immediately that same evening.

It was stated that the Iranian delegation went to the airport a few hours later and boarded a plane heading to Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Two unnamed US officials speaking to the Associated Press (AP) agency also claimed that Araqchi was initially scheduled to stay in New York until September 30.

The officials reported that during this period, Araqchi was expected to hold indirect talks with the US to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end hostilities, and restart negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

The officials noted that limited progress was made in contacts over the weekend, which also involved Qatari mediators, and claimed that Rubio’s “patience ran out” and he demanded the Iranian delegation leave immediately.

A statement regarding the matter was made on the Iranian Permanent Mission to the UN’s social media account on the US-based X company platform.

The claims that the delegation was forced to leave New York by the US were rejected in the statement, which said that the delegation left the country on Monday evening, September 17, in accordance with the program previously notified to the US Department of State.

ANEWS wp:paragraph