The Biden administration is considering a suite of restrictions that could bar Iranian diplomats from shopping at wholesale clubs such as Costco and Sam’s Club without State Department approval ahead of the U.N. General Assembly, according to an internal State Department memo reviewed by The Associated Press.
The memo, circulated inside the department and reported publicly this week, says the measures under consideration could take effect before the General Assembly convenes Sept. 22 and could extend to delegations from Iran, Sudan, Zimbabwe and, unexpectedly, Brazil. Officials are also reviewing both current visa holders and those seeking entry for the U.N. meeting.
One element described in the memo would specifically bar Iranian diplomats, who already face tight restrictions in New York, from using wholesale-club shopping privileges without prior State Department authorization. Iranian diplomatic delegations have a long history of purchasing bulk goods at U.S. wholesale chains and shipping them home, a practice the memo cited as a rationale for the proposed restriction. The document also proposes drafting rules that would permit the State Department to impose conditions on wholesale-club memberships for all foreign diplomats in the United States.
The extent and timing of any final measures remained unclear. The memo characterizes the steps as proposals under consideration rather than finalized policy, and it does not specify whether any of the contemplated restrictions would apply to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva or other heads of state attending the U.N. session. Traditionally, Brazil’s president delivers the first address on opening day of the General Assembly.
The potential wholesale-club limitation is part of a broader review the administration is conducting of diplomatic access and visa issuance for the U.N. meeting. The department has already taken other steps this month, including denying visas to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, citing support for terrorism, according to public statements. The memo also notes that Syria’s delegation received a waiver from travel limits imposed more than a decade ago and therefore likely would face fewer new restrictions.
Administration officials have tied the reviews to security and enforcement objectives; the memo reviewed by The Associated Press frames the wholesale-club proposal as a narrowly targeted step to limit a specific practice. It does not outline enforcement details such as penalties for unauthorized purchases or how the department would monitor compliance.
Tensions between the administration and some visiting leaders may be complicating determinations about who would be subject to any new conditions. Officials have sparred publicly with Brazil’s leadership over the prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, though the memo makes no explicit linkage between that dispute and the membership proposal.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. News outlets that first reported aspects of the memo said the measures were still under consideration and could be revised or dropped as the department finalizes its approach ahead of the U.N. gathering.
Any formal rules would need to be drafted and promulgated before they could be applied, and it was not clear from the memo whether the department planned to issue them as emergency measures or through a routine regulatory process. The Associated Press contributed to this report.