US quietly expelled Iran’s deputy UN ambassador over security concerns

The United States quietly expelled Iran’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations last December over national security concerns, according to a U.S. official and a source familiar with the matter speaking to Axios. 

The move, which was not publicly disclosed at the time, was one of at least three expulsions of Iranian diplomats based in New York over a six-month period.

In early December, the U.S. State Department sent an official note to Iran’s permanent mission to the UN requesting that Deputy Ambassador Saadat Aghajani leave the country immediately. He was asked to depart under “section 13 procedures,” an internal State Department mechanism designed to facilitate a discreet expulsion rather than formally declaring a diplomat “persona non grata.”

U.S. officials said section 13 procedures are often used in cases involving diplomats suspected of espionage or activities deemed contrary to U.S. national security interests. No specific allegations against Aghajani have been made public.

In February, the State Department also requested that Aghajani’s children, who had remained in New York following his departure, leave the United States, a U.S. official said.

The action against Aghajani followed the expulsion of at least two more junior Iranian diplomats in the preceding two months, according to U.S. officials.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran had already prompted tighter restrictions on Iranian diplomats’ movements. In September, the State Department limited personnel at Iran’s UN mission to travel within a 25-mile radius of central Manhattan. At least one of the expelled diplomats had repeatedly violated those restrictions, a U.S. official said.

“We can confirm that the United States delivered a Note Verbale on December 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,” a State Department official said.

The official added that the decision was taken well before the protests in Iran and was unrelated to those events.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined to comment.

By Sabina Mammadli