Iranian politician Amirhossein Sabeti has filed an impeachment motion against Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi over contact with US officials during last month’s UN General Assembly in New York, alleging he acted without authorisation.
Mr Sabeti said he had registered the motion in parliament’s electronic system and asked Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to refer it to Iran's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.
The motion says Mr Araghchi’s meeting with American officials was among actions carried out “without permission from the leader”, according to the text published by state media.
It asks the commission to examine the allegations with Mr Araghchi and the legislators seeking his impeachment, citing Iran’s constitution and parliament’s internal regulations.
Mr Sabeti specifically identified Mr Araghchi’s contact with US officials during his New York trip as the latest example of actions taken without consultation with supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
The move follows previous criticism of Mr Araghchi’s reported interaction with US envoy Steve Witkoff on the sidelines of the General Assembly on September 22.
Citing information one of its reporters had obtained, Tasnim news agency said the contact with Mr Witkoff occurred without co-ordination or approval from Iran’s policy-making bodies, including the Supreme National Security Council.
The dispute centres on whether Mr Araghchi was authorised to engage directly with US officials or had been instructed only to communicate Tehran’s conditions through intermediaries.
Supreme National Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei said Iran’s seven conditions were to be conveyed again to “mediators”, which Tasnim interpreted as evidence Mr Araghchi had no mandate to go beyond indirect contacts.
State television, however, said the meeting followed repeated US requests and that Mr Araghchi accepted so he could convey Tehran’s conditions.
Inside parliament, Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, demanded Mr Araghchi explain “under which authorisation and policy” the contact took place.
But fellow committee member Mojtaba Zarei said Mr Araghchi had received the necessary authorisation from Iran’s governing structures and was implementing their decisions.
As of Tuesday, Tasnim reported that the impeachment request had been entered into parliament’s system but had yet to be referred to the presiding board.
