America just gave Iran a deadline and kicked its diplomats out of New York
1 hour ago · 1 October 2026Share
President Donald Trump answers questions from members of the media after meeting with the White House Task Force on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Monday, November 17, 2025, in the Oval Office. The White House · Public domain
The order came two days ago, on a Monday evening. Right after talks between the two sides broke down.
A US official told Axios why. Quote "the UN General Assembly was over, so it was time for them to go."
The Iranian delegation got on a flight out of New York at 1.20am the next morning. Bound for Doha.
But here's the thing. Iran says that's not what happened at all.
Iran's UN mission posted on X. It said the delegation left New York that Monday evening in line with a schedule it had already given the US State Department weeks earlier, on 17 September.
It also said America made the whole story up, calling it baseless and worthless news after getting nothing out of the talks.
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North of Tehran Skyline view, Tehran, Iran. File photo. Ninara from Helsinki, Finland · CC BY-SA 3.0
So both sides agree on the timing. They completely disagree on the reason.
And this didn't come out of nowhere.
America, Israel and Iran have been at war for seven months now, since 28 February.
There was a ceasefire for a while, starting in April, with Pakistan brokering it. Trump called that off on 8 July.
Since then it's been fighting, then talking, then fighting again. Qatar has been passing messages between the two sides the whole time.
This week, at the UN General Assembly, Iran put forward a new offer. A seven-day plan, through Qatari mediators, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart talks.
Trump had already rejected an earlier version of that same plan, just the week before.
Then a day ago, Iran said it had received Washington's official response to the new one.
Nobody has said what's actually in that response.
So here's where things stand. Iran's negotiators are on a plane out of New York. Trump is talking about finishing the war by force. And Qatar is still the only line open between two governments that aren't talking to each other directly anymore.
What's not clear is how literally to take Trump's timeline. "Very soon" has no date on it, and he's used that kind of language before without acting fast.
It's also not clear if Rubio's order actually pushed the delegation out, or if — like Iran says — they were leaving anyway, and the administration just used the moment to look tough.
Iran hasn't replied to Trump's ultimatum directly yet.
For now, Qatar is still the only channel left between Washington and Tehran.
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