After denying visas for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and members of his large delegation to attend the United Nations General Assembly this month, the US is now considering ramping up restrictions on several other delegations that would severely limit their ability to travel inside New York City.
Potential travel and other restrictions could soon be imposed on delegations from Iran, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Brazil, according to an internal State Department memo seen by The Associated Press.
The movements of Iranian diplomats are severely limited in New York, but one proposal being floated would bar them from shopping at big, members-only wholesale stores like Costco and Sam’s Club without first receiving State Department permission.
Such stores have been a favorite of Iranian diplomats posted to and visiting New York because they can buy large quantities of products not available in their economically isolated country relatively cheaply and send them home.
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