The Iranian deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Saadat Aghajani, was expelled by the US State Department in December 2025, according to a report by Axios on Friday.
Citing an unnamed US official and another source with knowledge of the incident, Axios noted the expulsion was due to concerns about national security.
The report said that Iran's UN mission received a note from the State Department in December asking Aghajani to leave the country immediately.
"We can confirm that the United States delivered a Note Verbale on December 4 regarding the status of certain Iranian personnel at the UN," an unnamed State Department official told Axios. "For privacy and security reasons, we do not comment on the specifics of diplomatic personnel actions."
Aghajani's children were asked to leave the country as well, Axios reported, the State Department requesting their departure in February 2026.
According to the report, the State Department utilized a process known as "section 13 procedures" to enable Aghajani, who was not charged with any specific allegation, to leave the country without formal escalation, a process often used when a diplomat is accused of acting contrary to US national security interests.
Latest of several expulsions
According to Axios, the incident was the latest of at least three such expulsions of Iranian diplomats in New York over the past half year and was not disclosed at the time, with at least two additional Iranian junior diplomats expelled over the preceding two months.
An unnamed US official was cited as noting that one of the expelled Iranians had repeated violations.
The State Department had previously restricted the movements of Iranian UN diplomats, requiring them to remain within a 25-mile (40.2 km) radius from central Manhattan, the report said.
An unnamed State Department official noted that the expulsion measures were unrelated to the January 2026 Iran protests, having occured before they began.
Axios reached out to Iran's UN mission, which declined to comment.