Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi denied the American narrative regarding the expulsion of Iranian diplomats today, Sunday, clarifying that all diplomats who traveled to New York "departed as scheduled."
Araqchi stated in a press interview that "all Iranian diplomats who traveled to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly meetings have left except for one who returned early as per the predetermined schedule."
He also pointed out that "boasting about false news regarding the expulsion of diplomats is an inappropriate behavior for the head of any diplomatic mission," stressing that "such an approach reflects desperation and failure above all, and it contradicts the obligations of the host state to the United Nations."
Earlier, an American official told Axios that "Secretary Rubio is serious about the matter, having found two other members of the Iranian delegation still in New York long after the conclusion of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, and they have now been expelled from the country."
He explained that the State Department made a request last Monday to the Iranian mission at the United Nations requiring all delegation members to leave immediately, but the diplomats did not comply with the request, adding that "one of the Iranian diplomats left on Friday night, and the other on Saturday morning."