US bars Iran's diplomats from shopping at Costco without permission

"NEW YORK -- The Trump administration has barred Iranian diplomats based in or visiting New York from shopping at wholesale club stores like Costco and purchasing luxury goods in the United States without specific permission from the State Department. "We will not allow the Iranian regime to allow its clerical elites to have a shopping spree in New York while the Iranian people endure poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and dire shortages of water and electricity," the department said in a statement."

"In notices to be published this week in the Federal Register, the department's Office of Foreign Missions determined that diplomatic memberships in wholesale club stores as well as diplomats' ability to buy items such as watches, furs, jewelry, handbags, wallets, perfumes, tobacco, alcohol and cars are a "benefit" requiring U.S. government approval. However, the only country whose diplomats were specifically targeted is Iran."

"By preventing Iranian regime officials from exploiting diplomatic travel to the UN as a means to obtain goods unavailable to the Iranian public, we are sending a clear message: When the United States says it stands with the people of Iran, we mean it," the State Department said. The move is another step in the Trump administration's crackdown on visas, including for leaders and diplomats seeking to serve as representatives at the United Nations."

The United States barred Iranian diplomats based in or visiting New York from shopping at wholesale club stores and buying luxury goods without State Department approval. The restrictions require prior permission for memberships and purchases of items including watches, furs, jewelry, handbags, wallets, perfumes, tobacco, alcohol and cars. Only Iranian diplomats are specifically targeted by the measure. The administration framed the action as preventing regime elites from acquiring goods unavailable to ordinary Iranians. The change is part of a broader tightening of visa and diplomatic privileges tied to U.S. policy toward Iran.

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