US to Keep Ban on Iranian Diplomats Buying Luxury Goods During UN General Assembly

The United States will allow top Iranian officials to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week, but they will remain barred from buying luxury goods or wholesale club memberships, the U.S. State Department said Thursday.

The State Department said a core delegation from the Iranian regime would be allowed to attend the meeting in line with the United States’ obligations as the world body’s host country. Under the 1947 U.N. headquarters agreement, the United States is generally required to allow ​access to the United Nations for foreign diplomats.

“The delegation will be under travel restrictions and will face prohibitions on the purchase ‌of ⁠luxury and other goods per our policy. The delegation is smaller than last year,” the State Department spokesperson added.

In the past, the U.S. government has barred Iran’s delegation from shops and restricted its movements to travel between the U.N. headquarters, the Iranian U.N. mission, the U.N. ambassador’s residence, and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.

The State Department confirmed on Thursday that shopping restrictions will continue.

“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,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott wrote in a post on X.

“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.”

He also warned stores not to ignore the restrictions.

“New York-area retailers: be on guard, don’t become complicit in these violations,” he wrote.

He did not list specific shops, brands, or clubs, and framed the measure as a continuation of existing limits.

The Trump administration on Wednesday said it would deny entry to Palestinian officials for the U.N. meeting, extending a ban in place since last year, ⁠over actions ​they took to “internationalize the Israeli–Palestinian conflict,” including pursuing cases ​against Israel at international tribunals.

Russia, China End Mandate for UN Sanctions Monitoring

Russia and China vetoed a resolution on Thursday that would have extended the U.N. Security Council mandate for independent sanctions monitoring. Eleven council members voted in favor, while Pakistan and Somalia abstained.

“Without ​an independent panel of experts, this council loses its principal source of impartial, evidence-based reporting on sanctions ‌violations, ⁠creating a monitoring gap that only benefits the Iranian regime and those who profit from evading those measures,” Locetta said.

The United States and Israel went to war with Iran seven months ago, saying that they aimed to ​stop Tehran from developing ⁠a nuclear weapon. Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in 2018 during his first term in ​office, describing the pact as “the worst deal ever.”

Russia on Thursday accused its Western counterparts of politicizing the Security Council.

“We strongly urge Western colleagues to stop their very dangerous actions on the Iran front, which threaten further complication of settling of ⁠the crisis ​in the Persian Gulf,” Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily ​Nebenzia, told the Security Council.

“The only way to resolve disagreements and to alleviate concerns … pertaining to the Iranian ​nuclear program is through political and diplomatic efforts.”

Reuters contributed to this report.