Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is heading to New York City, but the U.S. State Department is keeping his entourage slim and his movement limited.
The Iranian leader will be speaking at the U.N. General Assembly this week, where he will be delivering an address on Wednesday. He is also expected to meet with various world leaders and Iranian expatriates living in the United States. He will be joined by his chief of staff, Mohsen Haji-Mirzaei, and deputy head of presidential protocol and ceremonies, Seyyed Abbas Mousavi.
A State Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner on Monday that the “delegation is smaller than last year,” most likely due to restrictions placed on Pezeshkian’s media team reported by Iranian state outlets.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin/Pool Photo via AP)
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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin/Pool Photo via AP)
“In an unprecedented hostile move by the U.S. government, Trump has denied U.S. visas to certain members of the president’s high-level delegation, including members of his communications team,” reported Iranian state news agency IRNA this week.
The State Department has also imposed tight restrictions on approved diplomats’ travel and commerce throughout their trip.
“Consistent with our host country obligations, the core delegation from the Iranian regime will be able to attend UN General Assembly High Level Week,” the department confirmed to the Washington Examiner. “The delegation will be under travel restrictions and will face prohibitions on the purchase of luxury and other goods per our policy.”
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott accused the Iranian officials of wanting to “go on shopping sprees in New York” while “ordinary Iranians endure brutal repression, water and electricity shortages, and soaring inflation.”
“We will not let the Iranian regime’s elites exploit UNGA for a luxury retail splurge paid for by the Iranian people’s suffering, all while the regime funnels Iran’s wealth to support its terrorist proxies,” Pigott said on social media last week. “The U.S. will continue to ban Iranian UN Mission officials, visiting officials, and their dependents from buying wholesale club memberships or luxury goods here. New York-area retailers: be on guard, don’t become complicit in these violations.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry dismissed the shopping restrictions as a “theatrical announcement” meant to distract from the “brutal economic war” the White House is waging “on every Iranian citizen.”
Masoud Pezeshkian, President of Iran, addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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Masoud Pezeshkian, president of Iran, addresses the 79th session of the U.N. General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
“They look past the sanctioning of an entire nation’s livelihood, then issue solemn statements about the sanctioning of a store membership card,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said of the announcement. “The propaganda is so crude and threadbare that it exposes the naivety of the mindset that launched an unlawful war of choice against the Nation of Iran, and helped deliver the United States to the embarrassing position it occupies today.”
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will also be attending alongside the Iranian president. He began his trip this week with a stop in Qatar before continuing to New York.
President Donald Trump has suggested he would be interested in meeting with Pezeshkian while he is in New York City, according to a report from Fox News on Sunday. Trump has said the only options for dealing with the Islamic Republic is “wiping Iran out,” or allowing its economy to “rot.”
TRUMP SAYS HOUTHIS AGREED NOT TO FIGHT US, WEIGHS ‘WIPING OUT’ IRAN
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be traveling in New York City until Wednesday to join Trump for the General Assembly’s High-Level Week. He rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday to begin the assembly.
The Washington Examiner asked the State Department whether Rubio is planning to meet with Iranian officials while attending the U.N. assembly, but did not receive comment.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
