Tehran is demanding that the United Nations step in after what it describes as a “tightening of restrictions” on Iran’s diplomatic mission in New York, escalating a rapidly worsening standoff between Washington and the Islamic Republic.

In a sharply worded statement Thursday, Iran’s foreign ministry condemned a U.S. decision to block three employees of its UN mission from continuing their work and accused the Biden administration of deliberately obstructing basic diplomatic operations.

According to Tehran, the United States has imposed sweeping curbs on Iranian diplomats: restricting their movements, limiting access to bank accounts, and even curtailing routine purchases. Iranian officials called the measures “pressures and harassment” designed to “disrupt the normal and legal duties” of its mission.

Washington began tightening restrictions in September, confining Iranian UN delegates to a small set of locations and barring them from accessing wholesale stores or luxury goods. Previously, diplomats were permitted to move between the UN headquarters, the Iranian mission, the ambassador’s residence, and JFK Airport.

The dispute comes on the heels of the most dangerous U.S.–Iran confrontation in years. Five rounds of indirect nuclear talks collapsed earlier this summer, ending in a 12-day air war in June in which U.S. and Israeli forces struck Iranian nuclear sites, shattering already fragile diplomatic channels.

Now, with Tehran appealing directly to the UN and the U.S. doubling down on restrictions, the clash over diplomatic access threatens to become the next front in a spiraling geopolitical crisis.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)