Sept. 18 (UPI) — The United States has reportedly approved visas for top Iranian officials to attend next week’s high-level United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York, after denying visas to Palestinian officials to attend the same event.
The State Department confirmed in a statement to media that visas would be approved for Iran’s “core delegation,” which is to include Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
“Consistent with our host country obligations, the core delegation from the Iranian regime will be able to attend U.N. General Assembly High-Level Week,” the spokesperson said in a statement, NBC News reported.
“The delegation will be under travel restrictions and will face prohibitions on the purchase of luxury and other goods per our policy.”
The announcement comes amid stalemate in the Iran-U.S. war over the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington is seeking to regain freedom of navigation of the vital energy route, while Tehran is fighting to maintain control over which vessels get to transit the strait.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott emphasized online that the Iranian delegation will be barred from shopping, while warning New York retailers to “be on guard.”
“While ordinary Iranians endure brutal repression, water and electricity shortages and soaring inflation, the regime’s officials want to go on shopping sprees in New York. Not on our watch,” he said in a statement.
“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. The U.S. will continue to ban Iranian UN mission officials, visiting officials and their dependents from buying wholesale club memberships or luxury goods.”
The announcement came a day after it was reported that the State Department would not be granting visas to members of the Palestinian Authority, including PA President Mahmoud Abbas, for a second consecutive year. Similar rejections were reportedly issued to dozens of PA officials seeking to attend the U.N. General Assembly.
Following the visa ban on Palestinian officials, the U.N. General Assembly voted 152 in favor and three against on Thursday to allow Abbas to address the assembly via a pre-recorded statement.
The PA Foreign Ministry criticized the ban on Thursday in a statement, accusing the United States of targeting it with “punitive measures” that “do not contribute to advancing peace or combating violence.”
The High-Level Week of the U.N. General Assembly runs from Tuesday through Sept. 29, with the centerpiece being the General Debate.
Source: U.S. News
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