US grants visas to Tehran to participate in UN General Assembly

“ ANDin accordance with our obligations as a host country, the main delegation of the Iranian regime will be able to participate in the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly,” said a spokesman for the US State Department.

A nearby source confirmed to the French news agency AFP that the measure actually applies to the Iranian Head of State and also to the Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi.

As last year, Iranian representatives will be subject to some travel restrictions during their stay in New York and also to a ban on buying luxury items.

In addition, the Tehran delegation will be smaller this year, and the State Department also needed it.

The measure is unusual because of the conflict between Iran and the United States, which has lasted for more than six months, and the absence of signs that agreements are imminent to reopen the Strait of Ormuz or resume negotiations on the Iranian nuclear programme.

It also occurs at a time when the Yemeni Huthis rebels, supported by Iran, intensified attacks on Saudi infrastructure and vessels in the Red Sea — another important maritime route in the region, where obstacles have contributed to an escalation of global oil prices.

In addition, Iran remains the main sponsor of terrorism in the world, according to the United States, which imposed significant sanctions on the country and launched, in recent weeks, a new campaign to cut “vital financial channels”.

As a country where the United Nations headquarters are located, the United States generally has a limited capacity for action as regards preventing foreign leaders from moving to participate in the General Assembly.

However, the country has previously denied visas — or discouraged requests — of leaders involved in ongoing conflicts with the United States.

For the meetings of the world leaders at the UN last year – held before the start of the war with Iran on 28 February, but after the US and Israeli air raids on Iranian nuclear installations in June 2025 – the State Department also approved a limited number of visas for Iranian diplomats, but imposed strict restrictions on the delegation's movements.

The decision on Iranian visas was announced just one day after the State Department denied sight of the Palestinian President, Mahmud Abbas, and his delegation to participate in the General Assembly.

U.S. diplomacy accused the Palestinian Authority — which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank — of trying to “internationalise” the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip by bringing cases before the International Court of Justice (IJC) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) and of continuing to pay financial aid to prisoners arrested in Israel for attacks on Israeli citizens.

The Palestinian Authority condemned the measure and classified Israel’s actions as “the real threat to the solution of two states and prospects for peace.”.

He also said that he remained engaged in long-term negotiations, but defended his efforts to obtain Palestinian recognition through international bodies and courts.

“ Punitive measures and restrictions imposed on Palestinian authorities do not contribute to promoting peace or combating violence,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Authority in a statement.

“ On the contrary, they weaken the Palestinian partner committed to a political solution and encourage forces working to undermine the two-state solution and impose the reality of occupation, colonization and annexation by force,” the statement reads.

The United States does not recognize the Palestinian Authority as a full member of the United Nations, although the General Assembly and some specialized UN bodies and agencies have done so.