ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — NYU Abu Dhabi, the branch of the famed New York university, blocked journalists on Sunday night from filming a graduation address by former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

The decision comes as Kerry was expected to discuss the 2015 nuclear deal he helped broker between world powers and Iran, which now is threatened after President Donald Trump's decision to pull America from the accord.

Kerry was to share the stage with Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, who long had led the UAE's criticism of the deal.

The university invited journalists, then just before the ceremony said journalists from The Associated Press and others could not film his full remarks.

A university spokeswoman, Kate Chandler, said it was the school's decision. Staffers for Kerry said they had no part in the organization of the event.

This is not the first time NYU Abu Dhabi has faced criticism when trying to balance the ideas of an American liberal arts education in the UAE, which has strict rules governing speech despite being a staunch American ally in the Mideast.

Human rights groups have criticized the school for using migrant workers to build the campus who they say had been subject to a range of violations including being forced to pay recruitment fees to get their jobs that were never reimbursed, living in overcrowded conditions and being forced to work overtime.

Following the report, NYU commissioned an investigation, which found a number of workers hadn't been protected by the fair labor practices the school had said would be in place. The school promised reimbursement.

The journalism department at New York University in 2017 told the school it was cutting its ties to NYU's Abu Dhabi campus over two professors being denied work visas by the UAE, as well as the school's handling of the situation.

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