US to let Iranian president attend UN General Assembly after barring PA leader

The US has approved visas for an Iranian delegation headed by its President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to attend next week’s UN General Assembly in New York, an official familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Thursday, a day after Washington announced that it would be barring Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from visiting for the same gathering.

“Consistent with our host country obligations, the core delegation from the Iranian regime will be able to attend UN General Assembly High Level Week. 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,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

In addition to preventing the PA president from attending the UN General Assembly in-person, the US voted against a resolution allowing Abbas to address the body virtually next week for the second consecutive year.

The measure still passed overwhelmingly, with 152 countries voting in favor, three — the US, Israel and Paraguay — voted against and four — Colombia, Honduras, Panama and Peru — abstained.

“If the PA wants to be treated as a partner, it must stop subsidizing terror and stop using diplomatic theater as a substitute for serious governance,” US deputy envoy to the UN Tammy Bruce told the General Assembly ahead of the vote.

The PA insists it has scrapped its previous welfare program that incentivized attacks on Israelis, though Washington and Jerusalem have denied that the reform has been properly implemented.

“Punitive measures and restrictions imposed on Palestinian officials do not contribute to advancing peace or combating violence,” the PA’s foreign ministry said Thursday in a statement. “Rather, they weaken the Palestinian partner committed to a political solution and encourage forces working to undermine the two-state solution and impose the reality of occupation, settlement and annexation by force.”

The US does not recognize the Palestinian Authority as the government of a full UN member state, unlike the UN General Assembly and various UN agencies and organizations that recognize Palestinian statehood.

The move to allow an Iranian delegation came despite the more than six-month-long conflict between Iran and the United States, with no signs that agreements to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on Iran’s nuclear program are close. It also came as Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have stepped up attacks on Saudi infrastructure and shipping in the Red Sea, another major maritime route in the region where impediments have helped drive a surge in global oil prices.

In addition, Iran remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, according to the United States, which has imposed significant sanctions against the country and launched a new campaign in recent weeks aimed at severing “critical financial lifelines.”

As the host country for the United Nations headquarters, the US is generally limited in what it can do to prevent foreign leaders from coming to the General Assembly. However, it has previously denied visas to leaders involved in active conflicts with the United States, or discouraged them from applying.

For last year’s UN meetings of world leaders — which took place before the Iran war began on February 28 but after the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025 — the State Department also approved a limited number of visas for Iranian diplomats but also imposed rigid restrictions on the delegation’s movements.

Those included severe limitations on how far Iranian officials could travel in New York City from their UN mission and barred them from shopping at wholesale membership stores, such as Costco and Sam’s Club.

AP contributed to this report.