U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered Iran’s delegation, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, to leave the U.S. after negotiations with Tehran reached an impasse earlier this week, Axios reported on Sept. 30.
The report, citing a U.S. official and another source familiar with the matter, said the order was issued on Sept. 28.
Araghchi was among the Iranian officials told to leave New York, according to Axios.
While President Masoud Pezeshkian left New York a day after speaking at the United Nations last week, Araghchi had remained behind ostensibly to participate in indirect talks with the U.S. on opening the
Strait of Hormuz, ending the conflict and resuming negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
According to some accounts, Araghchi had planned to stay in New York until Oct. 30.
“Secretary Rubio kicked out the Iranian delegation who had overstayed their welcome. The U.N. General Assembly was over, so it was time for them to go,” the U.S. official said as quoted by the news outlet.
Mediators have been seeking to broker a diplomatic breakthrough between Washington and Tehran but have so far made little headway.
While the Iranian delegation was already expected to return home, Rubio’s intervention represented an unusual diplomatic rebuke and underscored the strained relations between the two countries, Axios said.
The report said the White House initially believed on Sept. 28 morning that the talks could make progress later that day, but by the afternoon it had become apparent that negotiations had stalled.
According to the U.S. official cited by Axios, the U.S. mission to the U.N. informed Iran’s U.N. mission on Sept. 28 evening, on Rubio’s orders, that Araghchi’s delegation was required to leave New York immediately.
“The Iranian delegation, including Araghchi, left for the airport several hours later and boarded a flight from New York to Doha at 1:20 a.m. on Sept. 29.”
The report came as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened further attacks against Iran.
“Maybe I will blow ‘em up,” Trump told reporters on Sept. 30 when asked how he can reach a deal with a regime he says is crazy.
