Peter King: U.N. Iran Officials Should Be Kicked Out Of U.S.

WASHINGTON -- New York Congressman Peter King says the U.S. should kick out Iranian officials at the U.N. in New York and in Washington because many of them are spies.

Speaking at a hearing Wednesday, the Republican says such a move would send a clear signal after the recent alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington.

The U.S. and Iran have no diplomatic relations and thus there are no Iranian diplomats in the U.S. except those attached to the U.N. mission in New York. Iran maintains a fulltime U.N. ambassador and a staff there. Although those diplomats are allowed to live in the U.S. for that purpose, the U.N. is an independent international body and the U.S. cannot simply kick out diplomats accredited there en masse.

King lashed out against Iran earlier this month for its reported involvement with a terror plot to attack the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Washington D.C.

The GOP Rep. called the plot "an act of war" and argued that sanctions against Iran weren't a strong enough punishment.

Watch his interview with CNN's Erin Burnett below: