Washington decided to keep the decision confidential at the time, with an American official stating that the Iranian vice consul was among at least three Iranian diplomats expelled from New York over the past six months. In early December, the State Department sent a formal note to the Iranian mission at the UN in New York demanding the immediate departure of Vice Consul Saeedh Agajani.
The diplomat was ordered to leave the United States under a procedure known as “Section 13.” This is an internal mechanism used by the State Department to facilitate quiet expulsions instead of formally declaring a person “undesirable.” The State Department typically uses this procedure in cases where diplomats are suspected of espionage or activities that conflict with US interests or national security. No specific charges were filed against Agajani.
In February, the State Department also requested that Agajani’s children, who remained in New York after their father’s departure, leave the country, according to an American official. According to the source, at least two other lower-ranking diplomats from the Iranian mission were expelled in the two months preceding Agajani’s departure.
In September of last year, the State Department imposed movement restrictions on Iranian diplomats, limiting their travel to a 25-mile radius around midtown Manhattan. An American official stated that one of the diplomats who was expelled had violated these restrictions multiple times.
A State Department official confirmed that the US delivered a diplomatic note on December 4 regarding the status of certain individuals at the UN mission. The official added that due to privacy and security concerns, the department does not comment on the details of diplomatic personnel procedures. The official further stated that this measure was taken prior to the outbreak of protests in Iran and is unrelated to those events.
