U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the Iranian delegation attending the United Nations General Assembly meetings to leave New York immediately after negotiations between Washington and Tehran stalled.
A U.S. official was quoted as saying that Rubio had ordered the Iranian delegation to leave because it had remained in New York beyond the permitted period. The official said the UN General Assembly had concluded and it was time for the delegation to depart.
The White House had believed on Monday morning that progress could be made in negotiations with Iran later that day. However, by the end of the afternoon, it had become clear that the talks had reached an impasse.
On Monday evening, the U.S. mission to the United Nations informed its Iranian counterpart that the Iranian delegation was required to leave the country. Hours later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and other members of the delegation headed to the airport.
The plane carrying the Iranian delegation departed New York for Doha at 1:20 a.m. Tuesday.
Although Araghchi had already been scheduled to return to Tehran on Monday evening, the order for the delegation to leave at Rubio’s direction reflected heightened diplomatic tensions between Washington and Tehran, as disagreements persisted and efforts to reach a settlement to end the war remained stalled.
