Iranian president, FM cleared to attend the UN Assembly in New York

The Trump administration has approved visas for senior Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, to attend next week’s high-level United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, even as Iran and the United States remain locked in a stalemated war.

The State Department said Thursday, September 17, that it had approved visas for Iran’s “core delegation” and essential staff needed to participate in the U.N. meetings. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of visa privacy laws, said the core delegation includes Pezeshkian and Araghchi.

The decision is unusual given the more than six-month-old conflict between the two countries and the absence of signs that agreements to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or resume negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program are imminent.

The development also comes as Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have intensified attacks on Saudi infrastructure and shipping in the Red Sea, another major maritime route. Disruptions along key waterways in the region have contributed to a surge in global oil prices.

Iran also remains, according to the United States, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Washington has imposed extensive sanctions on Tehran and in recent weeks launched a new campaign aimed at severing “critical financial lifelines.”

As the host country of the United Nations headquarters, the United States is generally constrained in its ability to prevent foreign leaders from attending the General Assembly. Washington has nevertheless previously denied visas to, or discouraged applications from, leaders involved in active conflicts with the United States.

At last year’s U.N. gathering of world leaders, held before the Iran war began on Feb. 28 but after the United States and Israel carried out airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025, the State Department likewise approved a limited number of visas for Iranian diplomats while imposing strict restrictions on their movements.

Those restrictions included severe limits on how far Iranian officials could travel from Iran’s U.N. mission within New York City. They were also barred from shopping at wholesale membership stores, including Costco and Sam’s Club.

By Tamilla Hasanova