Cuba welcomed back a diplomat who was expelled by the United States following a tense incident at the United Nations earlier this week. On Friday, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Gerardo Peñalver shared a photograph of Richard Tur de la Concepción, first secretary of Cuba’s U.N. mission, arriving in Havana. Tur was accompanied by Foreign Ministry officials holding a Cuban flag at the airport, marking Cuba’s first public response since the U.S. action was announced.

The U.S. State Department expelled Tur after an altercation during a U.N. General Assembly session on Tuesday, when Cuba’s delegation was presenting a resolution condemning the longstanding U.S. embargo on Cuba. According to U.S. officials, Tur attempted to knock a phone out of the hand of a U.S. diplomat who was recording the interaction, and briefly pushed the American diplomat. This confrontation took place amid heightened tensions between the two countries following the imposition of an energy embargo by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year, aimed at pressuring Cuba’s government. Washington has also issued threats of military action against the Caribbean nation.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz publicly announced Tur’s expulsion, which was subsequently confirmed by the U.S. State Department. In contrast, Peñalver accused the U.S. delegation of deliberately attempting to disrupt the vote and undermine Tur’s candidacy for a position on a U.N. body. He described the U.S. behavior as part of a broader strategy to block the resolution, which Cuba refers to as opposing a "genocidal blockade."

The U.N. General Assembly approved the Cuban-sponsored resolution on Wednesday, calling for an end to the U.S. embargo, with 130 countries voting in favor. Seventeen countries opposed the measure, and 25 abstained. The resolution is nonbinding and is introduced annually. Tur expressed his gratitude for the support he received upon returning to Havana in a post on the social media platform X.