US denies visas to members of Iranian president’s UN delegation

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The United States has refused to issue visas to members of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s delegation, including his communications team, for this week’s trip to the UN General Assembly, Iranian state media reported Monday.

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Pezeshkian will be the highest-ranking Iranian official to enter the United States since the Middle East war began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.

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“In an unprecedented hostile move by the US government, (US President Donald) Trump has denied US visas to certain members of the president’s high-level delegation, including members of his communications team,” state news agency IRNA reported.

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The Mehr news agency also carried the story, citing a spokesperson for the Iranian presidency, and added that Pezeshkian would address the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.

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Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei accused the Trump administration of “trampling on the right of access to information”, pointing to its recent move to bar three major US media outlets from the White House over objections to their coverage.

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“When an administration slams its doors shut — even on American journalists it happens to dislike — and bars foreign reporters, including the Iranian president’s media team, whose voices it would rather silence, it is not managing access; it is trying to hide the truth,” Baqaei said on X.

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The US has authorised an Iranian delegation to travel for the UN General Assembly but will, like last year, put restrictions in place.

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Iran’s delegation will not, for instance, be allowed to purchase luxury goods or other items, the State Department said on Thursday.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, part of the delegation to the UN, left Iran on Sunday evening for a stopover in Qatar.

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Iran says it has conveyed to the US, via Qatar as mediator, conditions for reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz oil and gas shipping route, which it has sought to choke off since the war began.

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The United States, in turn, is imposing a counterblockade of Iranian ports.

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AFP

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