Arab News | US allows Iran delegation to attend UN assembly: official

WASHINGTON: The United States is allowing an Iranian delegation to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week, a State Department spokesman said Thursday, despite a war that has entered its seventh month.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed this would cover Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

“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 State Department spokesman said.

But the official added that the delegation will be smaller than last year. It will also face travel restrictions and prohibitions on purchases of luxury goods and other products.

US and Israeli strikes targeting Iran from late February sparked a war that has spread across the Middle East.

Tehran retaliated with a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for energy transit, sending global oil prices soaring.

There has been a fresh upsurge in fighting between the United States and Iran in recent weeks, while shipping remains restricted in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait off Yemen, where Houthi rebels have seized control.

The US move however comes as Washington denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas an entry visa for the UN General Assembly, a source confirmed Wednesday, marking the second straight year the United States has done so.

The step taken by President Donald Trump’s administration last year forced the Palestinian leader, a regular at the UN General Assembly, to address the body of global leaders by video.

In a statement that did not mention Abbas by name, the State Department said it would deny visas to members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and officials with the Palestinian Authority.

This was due to “their failure to reform, contrary to their commitments to the United States, and their ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace,” the statement said.