Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has rejected a US claim that Iranian diplomats attending the United Nations General Assembly were expelled from the United States, saying all of the country’s diplomats left as scheduled.

“All Iranian diplomats who attended UNGA, except one who departed earlier, left as scheduled,” Araghchi said in a post on X on Sunday.

He said taking pride in the “fake diplomat ‘expulsion’” was inappropriate for the head of any diplomatic corps, arguing that the claim “oozes of desperation and defeat.”

Araghchi also said the assertion was inconsistent with the United States’ obligations as the UN host nation.

On Saturday, Axios cited a US official who claimed that two members of Iran’s delegation to the UN General Assembly in New York were “kicked out” of the country earlier in the day, several days after they were asked to leave.

“Secretary Rubio means business. Two more members of the Iranian delegation were found still in New York long after the UN General Assembly had passed. They have now been kicked out of the country,” the unnamed official claimed.

It came days after Axios claimed that Rubio had determined Araghchi and his team had “overstayed their welcome” and told them on Monday to leave New York immediately after little progress in meetings between the Iranians and Qatari mediators.

In an X post on Thursday, the Iranian Mission to the UN in New York dismissed the claim, saying the Iranian delegation was already scheduled to leave Monday, and that Washington was notified of the schedule.

‘Baseless news’: Iran debunks US claim of ordering Araghchi to leave New York

Tehran rejects an American media report that claimed Rubio ordered the Iranian delegation led by Araghchi to leave New York earlier than they had planned.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on September 23, and left New York the following day.

However, Araghchi remained in the US city, where he spoke with the media, had extensive discussions with members of the think tank community, and held numerous meetings with officials from various countries and UN officials.

The top diplomat also held talks with mediators trying to get Tehran-Washington talks back on track as the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran enters its eighth month amid the United States’ acts of mischief in the region and its rejection of diplomacy.