Iran FM arrives in New York for 76th UN General Assembly Session

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his accompanying delegation arrive in New York to partake in the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly.

Amir-Abdollahian’s plane landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday, a day before President Ebrahim Raeisi is slated to address the UN session via video-conference.

FM to hold 50 bilateral meetings

Tweeting following his arrival, Amir-Abdollahian foresaw a busy schedule involving some 50 meetings.

"Will outline our balanced, active, and smart foreign policy," he vowed.

Speaking earlier, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the foreign minister was scheduled to hold around 45 bilateral meetings with various foreign officials as well as heads of international organizations, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid.

During the meetings, Amir-Abdollahian would sit down separately with the remaining signatories of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world countries.

The United States ditched the deal in 2018, and then began to reimpose its illegal and unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Khatibzadeh said, “Naturally, if we judge the meetings to be beneficial to the course of negotiation, [then] relevant decisions will be taken.”

He was speaking of negotiations that have started in Vienna to potentially help restore the deal, but have been afflicted with continued American refusal to lift the inhumane economic measures.

The Islamic Republic has asserted that it does not seek to partake in negotiation just for the sake of negotiation, and identified removal of the bans as a key factor that determines Tehran’s cooperation.

The foreign minister is being accompanied in the trip by Khatibzadeh as well as the Foreign Ministry’s Director-General for International Peace and Security, Reza Najafi, and Director-General of the Foreign Minister’s Office, Es'haq Al-e Habib.

Upon arrival, Amir-Abdollahian was welcomed by Iran’s UN Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi, and the latter’s deputy, Zahra Ershadi among others.

According to Takht-Ravanchi, Amir-Abdollahian was also scheduled to hold meetings with others during his stay, including US-based researchers, various think tanks, and reporters.

“The opportunities will be used towards outlining the Islamic Republic’s policies,” the envoy said.

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