Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the Iranian delegation attending the U.N. General Assembly to leave the United States immediately after peace talks to end the nearly nine-month war crumbled, according to a new report.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were in New York last week for the United Nations’s yearly meeting and had reportedly met with U.S. officials to discuss a possible end to the war. However, Axios reported that once negotiations screeched to a halt, Rubio ordered the delegation to depart.
“Secretary Rubio kicked out the Iranian delegation who had overstayed their welcome. The UN General Assembly was over, so it was time for them to go,” the U.S. official told the outlet.
The order came after several days of diplomacy surrounding the General Assembly failed to produce a breakthrough in negotiations aimed at ending the war and restoring normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
President Donald Trump later confirmed that he rejected a peace proposal from Iranian negotiators. Trump did not specify what the peace proposal consisted of, but Pezeshkian told CBS News that the ceasefire framework proposed to the U.S. had the “same objectives” as a previous memorandum of understanding from the summer. That MOU had reportedly crumbled due to disputing interpretations over the ceasefire framework surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.
The Wall Street Journal had reported that Trump shut down a proposal from Tehran in which the U.S. would halt its blockade on Iranian ports in the strait in exchange for Iran reopening the rest of the strait and the renewal of talks over its nuclear program.
Amid speculation about the reported peace talks, Axios released an article that claimed Trump was willing to alleviate economic sanctions in exchange for Iran making concessions to its nuclear development. The report quickly drew the ire of Trump, who called the outlet “fake.”
“Axios just released a story that ‘Trump’ offered Sanctions Relief and Frozen Funds to Iran. This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING! Axios’ story, like most others, is a HOAX, used only for purposes of satisfying their Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Trump said, demanding the outlet take down the story.
RUBIO: IRAN HAS MISREAD US SYSTEM IN HOPES OF HOLDING OUT FOR DEMOCRATIC MIDTERM ELECTION WIN
Trump has repeatedly claimed that Iran is “begging” for a deal to end the conflict but on Wednesday told reporters that military action is still on the table.
“Maybe I blow ’em up,” the president said. “We have to make that decision. We will blow ’em up or make a deal. But the time is coming. It’s gonna end very soon one way or the other.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
