US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday demanded that the Iranian delegation attending the UN General Assembly in New York leave the country immediately, after talks reached a dead end. The move was reported by sources among US officials, according to infohub.kz.
According to Axios, Rubio's step amounted to a highly unusual diplomatic rebuke and laid bare the deep mistrust between the two countries.
Qatari mediators had sought to secure a diplomatic breakthrough between the United States and Iran but achieved only minor progress, as neither side was willing to make concessions.
Among those ordered to leave New York was Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
"On Monday morning, the White House believed that progress could be made in talks with Iran during the day. But by the end of the day it became clear that the negotiations had reached a dead end. On Monday evening, on Rubio's orders, the US mission to the UN informed the Iranian mission that Araghchi's delegation must leave New York immediately," a source said.
Recall that Qatari representatives were earlier reported to have failed this week to achieve a breakthrough in settling the conflict between the United States and Iran.