US curbs on Iranian diplomats prompt appeal to UN
Iran has asked the United Nations to intervene after the United States expanded restrictions on the movement and activities of its diplomats, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Iran has asked the United Nations to intervene after the United States expanded restrictions on the movement and activities of its diplomats, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Washington, Tehran said, had intensified restrictions on members of Iran’s mission, including banking hurdles and limits on routine purchases, after earlier curbs imposed during September’s UN General Assembly.
"The United States took action this week to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime by restricting their UNGA delegation’s movement and access to wholesale club stores and luxury goods," the state department said in a statement in September.
"We will not allow the Iranian regime to allow its clerical elites to have a shopping spree in New York while the Iranian people endure poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and dire shortages of water and electricity."
In the statement, the ministry said these measures were intended “to disrupt the normal and legal duties of Iranian diplomats.”
“The imposition of extensive restrictions on the residence and movement of Iranian diplomats, tightening restrictions on bank accounts, and imposing restrictions on daily purchases are among the pressures and harassment,” the ministry said.
Washington barred three mission staff
The ministry also criticized the US State Department for blocking continued work by three employees of Iran’s mission. It did not specify when the expanded limits began, though Iranian diplomats were previously permitted to travel only between the UN, their mission, the ambassador’s residence and John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The appeal comes after five rounds of indirect nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States ended earlier this year. Those talks preceded a 12-day air war in June in which Israel and US forces struck Iranian nuclear sites, an escalation that deepened the diplomatic rupture.
The UN has not publicly addressed the request, but Tehran’s appeal signals mounting friction in an already strained diplomatic environment.
