President’s Team Denied Visas as Iran Faces New Restrictions at the United Nations
The United States has refused to issue entry visas to several members of the delegation accompanying Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Pezeshkian is scheduled to leave Iran on Tuesday and travel to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian state media reported on Monday.
“In an unprecedented hostile move by the US government, Donald Trump refused to grant US entry visas to several members of the high-level presidential delegation, including members of the media team,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.
The Mehr News Agency also carried the report, citing a spokesperson for the Iranian presidency.
World leaders are returning to New York this week to attend the United Nations General Assembly against a backdrop of escalating wars and mounting international crises.
The UN headquarters in Manhattan will bring together nearly 130 heads of state and government at a time when the international order established after the Second World War is facing growing pressure.
The United Nations is struggling to preserve its role amid significant political and financial constraints, as well as rising tensions in its relationship with the administration of US President Donald Trump.
For the second consecutive year, Trump will return to the UN podium at a time when Washington has reduced its financial contributions to the international organization and withdrawn from dozens of UN-affiliated bodies.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose most recent participation in the diplomatic gathering was by video in 2021, will not travel to New York. Instead, he will hold direct bilateral talks with Trump in Washington on Thursday.
Observers say the decision is once again raising questions about the United Nations’ role in addressing global crises.
The challenges are not limited to the funding and political role of the 80-year-old organization. Secretary-General António Guterres is approaching the end of his term in late 2026, while the race to choose his successor remains open, with no clear candidate having emerged so far.
