Washington: The United States announced that it will deny entry visas to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and a number of senior Palestinian officials to attend the UN General Assembly meetings next month in New York.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the US State Department stated that the decision would include Abbas and approximately 80 officials from the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The decision was made due to “security and political concerns,” although it was noted that “the permanent Palestinian mission to the United Nations is not covered by the decision.”

Abbas was scheduled to participate in the annual high-level meeting of the General Assembly, along with a summit hosted by France and Saudi Arabia. During this summit, several Western countries, including Britain, France, Australia, and Canada, pledged to recognize a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian president’s office expressed surprise at the US position, considering it a violation of the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement, which mandates Washington to allow foreign diplomats access to the international organization’s headquarters.

The US decision follows closely on the heels of Western powers pledging to officially recognize the State of Palestine, a move that has been rejected by the United States and Israel.

It is worth noting that Washington previously barred the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from entering its territory in 1988, which prompted the UN General Assembly to convene its meetings in Geneva instead of New York.