US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered Iran's UN delegation to leave the country after indirect talks on ending the war stalled, but Tehran denied its diplomats left ahead of schedule.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his delegation had remained in New York after President Masoud Pezeshkian left following his UN General Assembly speech, with Qatar mediating between Washington and Tehran.
The dispute came as Iran said it had received Washington’s response to a seven-day proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume negotiations, after US President Donald Trump had rejected an earlier version of the plan.
Mr Rubio had ordered the delegation to leave because it had remained after the General Assembly had ended, Axios reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
“Secretary Rubio kicked out the Iranian delegation who had overstayed their welcome. The UN General Assembly was over, so it was time for them to go,” a US official was quoted as saying.
Iran’s UN mission said the delegation had left according to a pre-arranged schedule communicated to the US State Department, however.
“The Iranian delegation left New York on Monday evening, in accordance with the schedule that had also been communicated to the US Department of State in advance on September 17,” it said. “Having achieved nothing, the State Department has resorted to promoting baseless reports.”
Gulf security 'indivisible'
Mr Araghchi received Washington’s response through Qatari mediators in Doha on Wednesday, an Iranian government spokesman said. The proposal called for steps towards reopening the strait and returning to negotiations.
“If the necessary conditions are met, the strait could be reopened,” Mr Araghchi said last week. “The choice now is with the US.”
The proposal came after indirect US-Iran talks in New York involving Mr Araghchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with Qatar passing messages between the sides.
Iran has sought the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the resumption of nuclear talks, while Washington has pressed Tehran over its nuclear programme and the wider conflict.
The seven-month war has disrupted commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Three Liberian-flagged oil tankers were struck by unknown projectiles while transiting the strait on Tuesday, maritime intelligence service Marisks said. The vessels had been sailing with their transponders switched off to avoid detection.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Gulf states faced a common security threat following attacks during the conflict.
“The attacks targeting the Gulf Co-operation Council states underscore that Gulf security and stability are indivisible,” he said in an address to the Shura Council.
“We are working with our brothers to safeguard Gulf security, pursue strategic co-operation and economic integration, and continue … strengthening joint Gulf action.”
IRGC hails US exit from Iraq
The State Department on Wednesday also criticised a 26-page open letter issued by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to the American public.
“The IRGC’s desperate effort to lie to the American people does not change the hard facts about the Iranian regime’s record of maliciousness, both in Iran and abroad,” a State Department spokesman said.
The spokesman said US military operations had damaged Iran’s defence industrial base, navy and air force, and accused Tehran of continuing to choose “terror over prosperity”.
The IRGC letter urged Americans to reject Mr Trump’s policies before November’s midterm elections.
In a separate statement, the IRGC portrayed the reported US withdrawal from Iraq on Wednesday as a victory for Iran-backed groups and a setback for American influence in the region.
“With certainty, it can be said that the expulsion of America from Iraq is the dawn of their expulsion from the entire West Asia and the geography of the Islamic world,” it said in a statement posted on Telegram on Thursday.
On the diplomatic front, mediator Qatar is continuing to pass messages between Washington and Tehran as each considers the latest proposals, with the next steps depending on their responses to the conditions exchanged through the mediation.
