Iran Foreign Minister Araghchi in New York for UN Summit, First Visit to US Since War Began

New York: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in New York on Monday to lead Tehran's diplomatic delegation at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, marking the highest-ranking Iranian official to enter the United States since direct hostilities between the US, Israel and Iran erupted in late February.

Araghchi landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where he was received by Iran's permanent representative to the UN, before holding a phone consultation with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss the assembly's agenda. His arrival came after a stopover in Doha, Qatar, where he held talks with officials from the country that has served as a key mediator in the seven-month conflict. According to Iranian state media, Tehran used the Qatari channel to relay its conditions for easing its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, including an immediate halt to US-Israeli strikes, the unfreezing of Iranian state assets, and an end to the American counter-blockade on Iranian ports.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is scheduled to travel to New York separately on Tuesday to address the assembly and lay out Iran's position on the regional conflict, though his media team was reportedly denied visas to accompany him. The Trump administration had earlier approved entry for a scaled-down Iranian delegation, with the State Department confirming that movement restrictions, consistent with longstanding US practice toward Iranian officials, would remain in place, limiting the delegation largely to areas required for official UN business