US bars Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from UN as allies pledge statehood

VoM News Desk | August 30, 2025 | 02:28 PM IST | Breaking News, Politics, World | Follow on Google News

US bars Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from UN as allies pledge statehood

WASHINGTON/RAMALLAH, West Bank, Aug 29 (Reuters) – The United States said on Friday it would not allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to New York next month for a United Nations gathering of world leaders, where several U.S. allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.

A State Department official said Abbas and about 80 other Palestinians would be affected by the decision to deny and revoke visas from members of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

Abbas had planned to attend the annual high-level U.N. General Assembly in Manhattan. He was also set to attend a summit there, where Britain, France, Australia and Canada have pledged to formally recognize a Palestinian state.

Abbas’ office said it was astonished by the visa decision and said it violated the U.N. “headquarters agreement.”

Under a 1947 U.N. “headquarters agreement,” the U.S. is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the U.N. in New York. Washington, however, has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.

Several European foreign ministers arriving at a European Union meeting in Copenhagen on Saturday criticised the U.S. decision.

A UN General Assembly “cannot be subject to any restrictions on access,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the U.S. move was “unacceptable.” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris said the EU should protest the decision “in the strongest possible terms.”

VoM News Desk

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