--- title: Secret Document Shows NSA Spied on Iran U.N. Delegation description: What happened when the NSA was asked by the Bush administration for blanket surveillance canonical: https://time.com/4046007/nsa-iran-un-general-assembly/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-23T12:02:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T11:10:55.527Z article:section: Politics og:title: Secret Document Shows NSA Spied on Iran U.N. Delegation og:description: What happened when the NSA was asked by the Bush administration for blanket surveillance og:url: https://time.com/4046007/nsa-iran-un-general-assembly/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97e065a629df8f35/698864ef428a9e041accf44c/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-united-nations.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad United Nations og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Secret Document Shows NSA Spied on Iran U.N. Delegation twitter:description: What happened when the NSA was asked by the Bush administration for blanket surveillance twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97e065a629df8f35/698864ef428a9e041accf44c/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-united-nations.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Secret Document Shows NSA Spied on Iran U.N. Delegation in New York by [NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Sep 23, 2015 12:02 PM UTC  Then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad speaks during a press conference at United Nations headquarters in Sept. 2007. Then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad speaks during a press conference at United Nations headquarters in Sept. 2007.Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images by [NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Sep 23, 2015 12:02 PM UTC The NSA will probably spy on foreign leaders like Iranian President [Hassan Rouhani](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/us-watches-irans-president-elect-moderation-ahead-nuclear-breakout-f6C10835588) during the UN General Assembly in New York this week, applying a “full court press” that includes intercepting cellphone calls and bugging hotel rooms, former intelligence analysts told NBC News. A top-secret report on a previous NSA operation against Iran’s U.N. delegation illustrates just how extensive this electronic surveillance can be. The document, obtained by NBC News, shows the U.S. bugged the hotel rooms and phones of then-Iranian President Mahmoud [Ahmadinejad](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/translator-iranian-presidents-gets-birds-eye-view-history-f8C11328038) and his entire 143-member delegation in 2007, listening to thousands of conversations and learning the “social networks” of Iran’s leadership… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/secret-document-shows-nsa-spied-iran-un-delegation-new-york-n431861?cid=par-time-article%5F20150923) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4046007/nsa-iran-un-general-assembly/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4046007/nsa-iran-un-general-assembly/"},"headline":"Secret Document Shows NSA Spied on Iran U.N. 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