The US State Department announced on Saturday that the United States had “expelled” two members of the Iranian delegation that participated in recent UN General Assembly meetings after they ignored an order to leave the country.
An American official said, “Two additional members of the Iranian delegation were found to be still present in New York long after the end of the work of the United Nations General Assembly.” Now they have been expelled from the United States,” he said, noting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio “is serious about what he says.”
According to Agence France-Presse, American media reported that the State Department had asked Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his delegation to leave the country on Monday, and resorted to expelling the two aforementioned members after learning from the Iranian mission to the United Nations that they were still in the country on Friday.
According to Axios, one of the delegation members left on Friday night, while the second left on Saturday morning.
American and Iranian officials met in New York last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings.
US President Donald Trump had rejected a proposal from Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in seven days, but he told American media that he expected the talks to resume in the coming days.
On the other hand, the official Iranian News Agency (IRNA) reported that there are no further direct talks scheduled between Tehran and Washington.
Pressure on Iran is increasing with the continuation of the war, US sanctions, and deteriorating economic conditions, at a time when the authorities are intensifying their security campaigns against those they accuse of being linked to the United States and Israel, or participating in protest actions. On Saturday, Tehran announced the dismantling of four networks and the arrest of 31 people in Kerman Province, coinciding with the judiciary’s announcement of the execution of a death sentence against a man who was arrested in connection with the January protests. In parallel, the Iranian riyal continued its decline to record a new record level, with the price of the euro exceeding three million riyals on the open market.
4 networks were dismantled and 31 people were arrested
The Iranian Ministry of Security announced the dismantling of four organized networks and the arrest of 31 people in the city of Sirjan in Kerman province, southeast of the country, accusing its members of being linked to “American-Zionist” parties and planning actions targeting security, public and private property.
The Ministry said that the operation was based on reports from citizens and intelligence information, and that the investigations revealed, according to its account, plans to cause unrest and carry out acts of sabotage in the streets. She added that the groups were preparing to manufacture large quantities of Molotov cocktails and tools to target surveillance cameras in the city, according to what Tasnim News Agency reported.
The Ministry accused the detainees of participating in acts of violence and sabotage during the unrest that the country witnessed in January, including burning the governorate building, causing damage to banks, government institutions, and public and private property, as well as attacking a police station in an attempt, according to the official version, to seize weapons.
The Iranian authorities did not provide independent details about the identity of the detainees, or the judicial procedures against them, while the arrests come in a tightened security context since the protests that broke out in late December 2025 against the backdrop of economic conditions, before expanding to include political demands.
Execution of a participant in the January protests
In a separate development, the Iranian judiciary announced the execution of the death sentence against Siavush Jamshidi Khairabadi, who was arrested during the January protests, after he was convicted of shooting at the police and committing crimes related to national security.
The judiciary said that Jamshidi fired at least three bullets at police officers on January 8, and that he was arrested two days later in the city of Shahr-Kord, and he was in possession of a pistol. She also accused him of communicating online with people to organize activities that she described as “anti-security,” and of seeking money in exchange for carrying out a “mission.”
Iranian authorities say that the protests that began on December 28 due to economic difficulties turned into widespread demonstrations demanding an end to the rule of the religious establishment. Armed groups and elements supported by the United States and Israel were also accused of participating in the protests and some acts of violence.
The death penalty announcement comes amid growing international criticism of death sentences linked to the protests. It was reported that dozens of countries expressed their concern at the United Nations Human Rights Council this week about the implementation of death sentences against protesters, and called for them to be halted.
The riyal exceeds the barrier of 3 million to the euro
On the economic side, the Iranian riyal continued its sharp decline in the open market, exceeding for the first time the barrier of three million riyals against the euro.
The price of the euro reached about 3.015 million riyals in trading on Saturday, according to open exchange market data, at a time when the dollar approached 2.7 million riyals. The value of the dollar rose by more than 8 percent in less than a week, according to published market data.
This decline comes at a time of increasing pressure on the Iranian economy as a result of sanctions, restrictions on oil exports, and the costs of war. Recent economic data indicate that consumer prices rose in September by 89.8 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, while average inflation during the previous 12 months reached 73.6 percent.
The decline of the currency leads to an increase in the cost of imported goods, raw materials, medicines, and machinery, which is directly reflected in the prices of local goods and increases the erosion of the purchasing power of families and companies.
War doubles economic pressures
The repercussions of the collapse of the rial are most evident in food prices, which residents in Tehran say have witnessed significant increases in recent months.
According to the numbers contained in the report, the price of a loaf of bread doubled from about 250,000 riyals to 500,000 riyals, while the price of a kilogram of rice rose from 3.5 million riyals to about 5.5 million riyals. Buying meat has become more difficult for an increasing number of families.
In addition to this, the decline in the value of real incomes, with the cost of living rising at a rate that exceeds the ability of many families to keep up, making the economic crisis one of the main factors that increases social pressure in the country.
The monetary crisis coincides with continued external pressure on Iran. After Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic, the United States imposed a blockade on Iranian ports with the aim of increasing economic pressure, while Iranian oil trade declined sharply.
Washington also imposed additional sanctions on parties it says support Iran, including banks and airlines, as part of a policy aimed at reducing Tehran's ability to access foreign currencies and sources of income.
Thus, Iran faces simultaneous pressures on three levels: security and political due to the continued prosecutions related to the protests, economic due to the collapse of the currency and rising prices, and external due to the war, sanctions, and restrictions on oil exports. Together, these factors make it more difficult to contain the social repercussions of the crisis at home.
