After negotiations faltered, Rubio demanded that the Iranian delegation leave America

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On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on the Iranian delegation participating in the United Nations General Assembly meetings to leave the United States immediately, following faltering negotiations between Washington and Tehran, according to what an American official and another source familiar with the matter revealed to Axios on Wednesday.

The American official said that Rubio asked the Iranian delegation to leave after it had “exhausted the purpose of its stay,” adding that the work of the United Nations General Assembly had ended, “and the time has come for them to leave.”

This came at a time when Qatari mediators tried to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough between the United States and Iran, but they made only limited progress, as each party adhered to its positions and refused to make concessions.

Although the work of the United Nations General Assembly had ended, Rubio's request was considered an unusual diplomatic rebuke, and revealed the extent of the lack of trust between Washington and Tehran in the midst of efforts to reach an agreement to end the war.

Among those included in the American request was Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

According to the sources, the White House believed on Monday morning that there was an opportunity to make progress in the talks with Iran during the same day, but by the evening hours it became clear that the negotiations had reached a dead end.

Subsequently, Rubio instructed the US mission to the United Nations to inform the Iranian mission that Araqchi’s delegation was required to leave New York immediately, according to the US official.

Members of the Iranian delegation, including Araqchi, left for the airport a few hours later and boarded a flight from New York to Doha at 1:20 am on Tuesday.

A second source also confirmed that America asked the Iranian delegation to leave, noting that Araqchi's return to Tehran was scheduled for Monday evening.

In parallel, regional sources reported that Qatari mediators are continuing their contacts with both sides regarding a compromise proposal aimed at narrowing the gap of differences between Washington and Tehran and pushing negotiations forward.

In statements he made to reporters on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said, in response to a question about how to reach an agreement with a regime he describes as “crazy”: “Maybe I will bomb them, and maybe I will actually do that. We have to make this decision. We will either bomb them or reach an agreement. But time is about to run out, and the matter will be resolved very soon one way or another.”