“We appreciate the mayor understanding the value of diplomacy, and for his decision to cancel this meeting.”
A senior official in socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani‘s administration had planned to meet with an Iranian envoy, until the meeting was reportedly shut down by the State Department.
Commissioner Ana María Archila, who is the leader of the Office of International Affairs for the Mamdani administration, was slated to meet with Iran’s representative to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani.
However, after the State Department became aware of the meeting between Archila and Iravani, the meeting was called off and State Department officials met with Mamdani officials to clarify what was acceptable, per a report from City Journal.
“That meeting did not take place, it will not take place and I did not know about it until there was a press inquiry regarding it,” Mamdani said in a press conference on Friday. When he was asked if he supported the meeting taking place, he reiterated, “I’ve said that that meeting will not be taking place. Thank you all very much.”
In a statement to Fox News, a State Department official said, “We appreciate the mayor understanding the value of diplomacy, and for his decision to cancel this meeting. It is unconscionable that a New York City official would even consider meeting with the Iranian Ambassador to the U.N., a man who consistently works to undermine U.S. interests and whitewash his regime’s crimes against the United States, our allies, and Iran’s own citizens.”
The move is the second time in recent weeks where the Trump administration has intervened with Mamdani administration officials meeting with foreign contacts.
There was also a meeting slated to take place in June between Mamdani and Colombian President Gustavo Petro. However, that was scrapped over objections from the State Department.