September 22, 2026 | 08:23 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United States (US) has refused to issue visas to the press team of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who were set to travel to New York to attend the UN General Assembly session, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026.
“When a government slams the door shut—even on American journalists it dislikes—and blocks foreign reporters, including the Iranian President’s media team whose voices it seeks to silence, such an act is not a form of access regulation,” Baghaei wrote on the social media platform X as cited by Antara.
Baghaei characterized the move as an attempt to conceal the truth and perpetuate a disinformation campaign by disregarding the right to access information.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry clarified that Baghaei’s statement was in response to the visa denial for the Iranian presidential media team’s trip to New York for the UN General Assembly; President Pezeshkian is scheduled to depart on Tuesday.
Separately, on September 18, 2026, US President Donald Trump announced a ban on CNN, MSNBC, and Politico covering the White House, alleging that these outlets were spreading "fake news."
On September 19, journalists from the three outlets were denied access to the White House complex, and their access badges were deactivated or confiscated.
Read: US News Outlets Sue Trump over White House Ban
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