New York, USA – The American news website Axios revealed new details Friday regarding the diplomatic pressure campaign waged by President Donald Trump’s administration against Tehran. The website confirmed that the United States expelled Iran’s deputy representative to the United Nations headquarters in New York, a move reflecting the peak of political tension between the two countries.
The identity of the expelled diplomat
The Axios report identified the expelled Iranian diplomat as Saadat Aghajani, who served as the Islamic Republic’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. He had previously served as his country’s ambassador to Ecuador. According to sources, Aghajani was forced to leave the United States in December 2025. Washington described the move as necessary to protect national security.
Expanding the expulsion circle to include the diplomat’s family
The US measures did not stop at expelling Aghajani. Axios, citing informed sources, confirmed that two other Iranian diplomats were also forced to leave the United States around the same time, without revealing their identities.
In a striking development reflecting the current administration’s hardline stance, the US State Department in February 2026 asked Aghajani’s two children, who had remained in New York to continue their studies, to leave the country and join their father. This further complicates the diplomatic landscape between the two countries.
Iranian protest and condemnation of human rights violations
For its part, the Iranian Foreign Ministry preempted these reports by issuing an official letter condemning the tightening of restrictions imposed on its diplomatic mission in New York.
Tehran called on the UN Secretary-General to intervene “seriously and urgently” to prevent what it described as violations of the legal rights of its mission, noting that Washington had obstructed the activities of three of its staff members, without naming them at the time. This diplomatic escalation coincides with the exchange of military threats in the Gulf region. The Trump administration is seeking to restrict Iranian activities internationally, while Tehran considers these measures a “departure from diplomatic norms” and the Headquarters Agreement, which governs the presence of foreign missions at the United Nations.
