US expels two Iranian UN delegates as Tehran rejects direct talks and rial hits new low

Departure order and expulsions

The US Department of State announced on Saturday that it had expelled two members of the Iranian delegation who remained in New York after the United Nations General Assembly. US authorities had instructed Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his entire diplomatic delegation on Monday to depart the country following the conclusion of assembly proceedings. American officials subsequently learned through the Iranian mission to the UN that two representatives stayed on American territory despite the directive. A US official told Agence France-Presse that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was taking strict enforcement measures against overstaying personnel. According to reporting from Axios, the first delegation member left the country on Friday evening, while the second departed on Saturday morning.

Two other members of the Iranian delegation were found to still be in New York well after the close of the United Nations General Assembly. They have now been kicked out of the United States.

Breakdown in bilateral communication

The diplomatic removals followed days of friction and unresolved bilateral discussions between Washington and Tehran. Representatives from both governments had met in New York during the previous week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to address regional issues. Following those talks, President Donald Trump publicly rejected a proposal submitted by Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Although Trump told US media that he anticipated discussions between the two nations would resume in the coming days, Tehran pushed back against that projection. Iran's official news agency IRNA reported that the Iranian government had no further direct talks scheduled with the United States.

Financial strains and currency intervention

Inside Iran, the economic consequences of ongoing regional conflict intensified alongside the diplomatic breakdown. The Iranian rial dropped to a new low on Saturday, prompting the Central Bank of Iran to authorize an intervention of up to $2 billion (approximately 1.78 billion euros) to support the currency. Data published by the monitoring website bon-bast.com showed the US dollar trading at approximately 2.688 million rials on Saturday, compared to 2.632 million rials on Friday. A separate market tracking website, alanchand.com, recorded the rate reaching 2.695 million rials per dollar. State television reported that state-owned banks began releasing and selling the $2 billion in foreign currency to prevent further devaluation, noting that the rial had lost more than half of its value over the past year. With the domestic inflation rate exceeding 70%, Iranian citizens face escalating difficulties in meeting basic living expenses.

Regional hostilities and Saudi targets

Military actions across the region added further pressure to the security environment as diplomatic channels narrowed. Houthi forces announced on Saturday that they had carried out an attack against an Aramco facility situated in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. The strike coincided with cross-border operations affecting critical energy infrastructure in the Gulf. With Tehran disengaging from scheduled direct negotiations and maritime passages remaining contested, regional stability remains affected across both commercial and diplomatic fronts.