The United States will allow an Iranian delegation to participate in the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“Consistent with our host country obligations, the core delegation from the Iranian regime will be able to attend U.N. General Assembly High Level Week,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement reported by NBC News. “The delegation will be under travel restrictions and will face prohibitions on the purchase of luxury and other goods per our policy.”
Although the delegation may partake in the General Assembly, the officials may not go on “shopping sprees” or other “splurge” activities as Iranian citizens face “brutal repression,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said.
“While ordinary Iranians endure brutal repression, water and electricity shortages, and soaring inflation, the regime’s officials want to go on shopping sprees in New York. Not on our watch,” Pigott wrote on X. “We will not let the Iranian regime’s elites exploit UNGA for a luxury retail splurge paid for by the Iranian people’s suffering, all while the regime funnels Iran’s wealth to support its terrorist proxies. The U.S. will continue to ban Iranian UN Mission officials, visiting officials, and their dependents from buying wholesale club memberships or luxury goods here. New York-area retailers: be on guard, don’t become complicit in these violations.”
The United States adopted a similar policy last year, prohibiting the Iranian delegation from accessing wholesale club stores and luxury items.
In his 2025 speech before the U.N. General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States and Israel of violating diplomacy by carrying out airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities during ongoing negotiations. He framed the strikes as a “grave betrayal of diplomacy” and claimed they undermined global stability.
