The State Department expelled Iran’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Saadat Aghajani, last December after he left a designated area, according to a Middle Eastern source. Two other members of the Iranian delegation were also expelled.
Iran Deputy Ambassador Expelled from U.S.
Axios first reported Friday that Aghajani was asked to immediately depart the U.S. in December, but the expulsion was kept quiet at the time.
A Middle Eastern source familiar with the matter said the incident dates back several months, noting that two other members of the delegation were also expelled.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations said it had “no comment.”
A State Department official confirmed the U.S. delivered a Note Verbale on Dec. 4 “regarding the status of certain Iranian personnel at the UN.”
“For privacy and security reasons, we do not comment on the specifics of diplomatic personnel actions,” the official said, adding, “This action occurred well before the protests in Iran and is unrelated to those events.”
According to Axios, Aghajani was asked to leave the U.S. under “section 13 procedures,” an internal State Department process for quiet expulsions. At least two other junior Iranian diplomats had been expelled in the two months prior to Aghajani’s departure.
The State Department restricted the movements of Iranian diplomats at the UN mission to a 25-mile radius from central Manhattan in September, Axios reported.
Aghajani’s children, who had remained in New York after their father departed, were also asked to leave the U.S. in February, a U.S. official told Axios.
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