Friday, September 18, 2026

United States Allows Iran’s Moderate President to Enter for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)

Input
2026-09-18 07:25:40
Updated
2026-09-18 07:25:40
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is getting off his private jet after arriving in New Delhi, India, on the 11th to attend the BRICS summit. UPI-Yonhap News

[Financial News] The United States, which is at war with Iran, has approved entry visas for an Iranian delegation traveling to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The delegation reportedly includes moderate figures, including the president.
According to The Associated Press (AP) on the 17th local time, a United States Department of State (State Department) spokesperson said that entry visas had been approved for Iran’s "core delegation" and accompanying staff. A source who spoke on condition of anonymity claimed that the delegation includes Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The State Department spokesperson said, "As the host country, in accordance with our obligations, the core delegation of the Iranian regime will be able to attend UNGA high-level week," adding, "The delegation will be subject to movement restrictions and prohibited from purchasing luxury goods and other items."
The 81st session of the UNGA opened at UN Headquarters in New York on the 8th, and high-level week events will begin on the 22nd. Donald Trump and other leaders are scheduled to speak on the first day of high-level week. Leaders from Ukraine, Syria and Iran are scheduled to deliver speeches on the 23rd.
The Iranian delegation also attended the UNGA last September, before the war broke out. At the time, the State Department issued visas to a limited number of Iranian diplomats and strictly restricted the delegation’s movements. Foreign media outlets described it as unusual that the Trump administration allowed Iranian figures to enter the country while it had been at war with Iran for more than six months and had announced tougher economic sanctions the previous month.
However, Pezeshkian and Araghchi, who are traveling to the United States this time, are known as moderates seeking negotiations to end the war with the United States. According to The New York Times (NYT) this month, Pezeshkian personally called Ahmad Vahidi, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and strongly rebuked him after the Iranian military attacked a merchant vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on July 7, putting the memorandum of understanding on ending the war with the United States at risk.
Meanwhile, the State Department refused on the 16th to issue a visa to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to attend the UNGA. This marks the second consecutive year that the United States has denied Abbas a visa. The United States does not recognize the Palestinian Authority as a full member state of the UN.
  

[email protected] Park Jong-won Reporter