.-') _ .-') _ | |
( OO ) ) ( OO ) ) | |
.-----. ,--./ ,--,' ,--./ ,--,' | |
' .--./ | \ | |\ | \ | |\ | |
| |('-. | \| | )| \| | ) | |
/_) |OO )| . |/ | . |/ | |
|| |`-'| | |\ | | |\ | | |
(_' '--'\ | | \ | | | \ | | |
`-----' `--' `--' `--' `--' | |
lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
US considers banning Iranian diplomats from shopping at Costco during | |
UN meeting | |
By Associated Press | |
Updated: | |
1:53 PM EDT, Fri September 5, 2025 | |
Source: AP | |
The Trump administration already has and his large delegation to attend | |
a high-level UN meeting this month and is now considering ramping up | |
restrictions on several other delegations that would severely limit | |
their ability to travel outside New York City. | |
Potential travel and other restrictions could soon be imposed on the | |
delegations from Iran, Sudan, Zimbabwe and, perhaps surprisingly, | |
Brazil, which has held a traditional place of honor during the | |
high-level leaders gathering at the UN General Assembly that begins | |
Sept. 22, according to an internal State Department memo seen by The | |
Associated Press. | |
While the potential restrictions are still under consideration and the | |
circumstances could change, the proposals would be another step in the | |
Trump administration’s , including a wide-ranging review of those | |
already holding legal permissions to come to the US and those seeking | |
entry to head to the UN meeting. | |
The movements of Iranian diplomats are severely limited in New York, | |
but one proposal being floated would bar them from shopping at big, | |
members-only wholesale stores like Costco and Sam’s Club without | |
first receiving the express permission of the State Department. | |
Such stores have been a favorite of Iranian diplomats posted to and | |
visiting New York because they are able to buy large quantities of | |
products not available in their country for relatively cheap prices and | |
send them home. | |
It was not immediately clear if or when the proposed shopping ban for | |
Iran would take effect, but the memo said the State Department also was | |
looking at drafting rules that would allow it to impose terms and | |
conditions on memberships in wholesale clubs by all foreign diplomats | |
in the US. | |
For Brazil, it was not clear if any potential visa restrictions affect | |
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva or lower-level members of the | |
country’s delegation to the UN gathering. | |
Brazil’s president is traditionally the first world leader to speak | |
before the gathered officials on the opening day of the session. The US | |
president is by precedent the second speaker. | |
Lula has been a target of US President Donald Trump, who objects to his | |
government’s of his friend, former President Jair Bolsonaro, on | |
allegations of leading an attempted coup. | |
One country that will see fewer restrictions is Syria, whose delegation | |
members have received a waiver from limitations that have been put on | |
their UN travel for more than a decade. | |
That waiver was issued last week, according to the memo, and comes as | |
the Trump administration seeks to following the last year of Syria’s | |
president, Bashar Assad, and integrate the once-pariah nation into the | |
Middle East. | |
Though named as possible targets, the memo did not specify what | |
restrictions might be imposed on the Sudanese and Zimbabwean | |
delegations. | |
The State Department did not immediately provide comment. The Iranian | |
and Brazilian UN missions didn’t immediately reply to requests for | |
comment. | |
<- back to index |