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Trump: US, Iranian Officials Met Tues. 09/23 06:24
President Donald Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials met Tuesday, an
unexpected engagement that came even as he threatened in his address to the
U.N. General Assembly that he may "annihilate" the Islamic Republic if a deal
isn't reached soon to end the nearly seven-month war.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- President https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump said
U.S. and Iranian officials met Tuesday, an unexpected engagement that came even
as he threatened in his address to the U.N. General Assembly that he may
"annihilate" the Islamic Republic if a deal isn't reached soon to end the
https://apnews.com/hub/iran
Trump told reporters that his chief envoys,
https://apnews.com/article/steve-witkoff-special-envoy-russia-ukraine-mideast-d2
6c80c87a57fd3a811e4b0aa0eda58e and https://apnews.com/hub/jared-kushner, met
for about three hours with the Iranian officials on the sidelines of the annual
gathering of world leaders but he offered few details about how the discussions
transpired or the substance of the exchange.
"It was a very good meeting," Trump said. The president later added that the
Iranian officials were "not the highest level, but it's something."
Witkoff said in a posting on X that the talks were conducted through
mediators who shuttled between the U.S. and Iranian teams. He added that he was
hopeful the effort "will prove constructive and promising."
The engagement comes after months of U.S.-Iran communications languishing
following the collapse of a short-lived ceasefire that was
https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-israel-war-oil-deal-june-17-2026-19652f4611b7
04c0a991bf1f5bc9a4b9 U.S. and Iranian negotiators met separately with Qatari
and Pakistani mediators in Doha in early July for indirect talks.
Earlier Tuesday, Secretary of State https://apnews.com/hub/marco-rubio said
Trump is open to meeting with Iran's president,
https://apnews.com/hub/masoud-pezeshkian, while he's in New York for the
General Assembly.
"This is a president that will meet with anybody for the most part, because
he believes that engaging with people is important if you're going to solve
problems," Rubio said on NBC's "Today" show. "It doesn't mean you're going to
end up agreeing with them, but it's important."
Trump also met Tuesday with leaders and senior officials from Gulf
Cooperation Council nations -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and
United Arab Emirates -- as well as Jordan to discuss the way ahead with
https://apnews.com/hub/iran.
In his address to the
https://apnews.com/article/un-assembly-leaders-ai-trump-netanyahu-climate-c47276
51b9030d6e7f81c0457a33440b, Trump made the case that he's shown fortitude while
other leaders have equivocated as he defended his decision to start
https://apnews.com/hub/iran
But Trump also suggested that he could be at a crossroads in the conflict
even as he called on the Islamic Republic to fully reopen the
https://apnews.com/hub/strait-of-hormuz and return to the negotiating table to
find a settlement to end the conflict.
"I have a big decision to make," Trump said. "Will a deal be made with Iran
that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was
before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world. Or do I
annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance
to kill and destroy people and countries again?"
The president's comments came in his wide-ranging address to
https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-general-assembly-unga-trump-war-83dfe8
8eaf541fdcef3a4758010bef6e in which he also celebrated this year's U.S.
military operation to oust Venezuelan President
https://apnews.com/hub/nicolas-maduro from power, hailed a new agreement to
https://apnews.com/article/trump-greenland-military-denmark-4cf77cb4608b685a7041
0bd679479193 in Greenland, and pushed back against calls for greater regulation
of the https://apnews.com/hub/artificial-intelligence industry.
But at the heart of the address was a fulsome defense of the war and
pushback on the notion that Iran has shown a measure of resilience.
"The terrorist regime is behaving badly, not because they are strong and
confident, but because they are weak and desperate," Trump said.
Most of Iran's delegation walked out of the chamber as Trump railed against
the Islamic Republic.
Trump's speech began a busy day of diplomacy
After his speech, Trump gathered with Danish Prime Minister Mette
Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on the
sidelines of the
https://apnews.com/live/trump-unga-xi-ai-news-updates-9-22-2026 to
https://apnews.com/article/trump-greenland-denmark-security-agreement-084ac2a829
52c2dff403c48bd3564113
https://apnews.com/article/trump-greenland-military-denmark-4cf77cb4608b685a7041
0bd679479193, announced last week, came together after Trump repeatedly
https://apnews.com/article/trump-greenland-denmark-timeline-b32ca9f63dd31333c1d6
e64fb3d6403e, a territory of NATO-ally Denmark, by military force if necessary.
Trump said Tuesday the U.S. will immediately begin the process of developing a
larger military presence in Greenland including "building two very major
military bases."
Under the deal, Greenland remains Denmark's territory.
Trump also
https://apnews.com/article/burnham-trump-meeting-unga-78aad1d7f8539927a33aa4d2bf
59f935 on the sidelines of the General Assembly with new British Prime Minister
https://apnews.com/article/andy-burnham-profile-uk-prime-minister-d9b573820fc8ed
a4975d8c67d60b2a28, Japanese Prime Minister
https://apnews.com/article/japan-government-takaichi-reshuffle-us-5dabfce1d98901
1ad3448b02db3b6723, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Ukrainian President
https://apnews.com/hub/volodymyr-zelenskyy, and Venezuela's acting President
https://apnews.com/article/trump-delcy-rodriguez-meeting-venezuela-47d8027590fea
4b3009ae48ce3842942.
Trump and Rodriguez's engagement during a Tuesday evening reception was the
first meeting between the two since Trump in January ordered the mission to
capture
https://apnews.com/article/trump-maduro-venezuela-presidential-palace-blowtorche
s-7969152ae48510003fe9cbde92f3c102 and sweep him off to New York City to face
federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.
https://apnews.com/article/maduro-venezuela-criminal-case-f90603d36d36a88837f485
dd5b2698b5 have objected to the U.S. military action that snatched him from
power.
Iran war looms large at General Assembly
The visit to the U.N. comes as Trump's foreign policy approach --
particularly his decision to start a war with Iran -- has become
https://apnews.com/article/iran-war-midterm-elections-unpopular-economy-trump-02
35a3b4ad221fafc5a1de7622ab152c on his fellow Republicans' hopes of retaining
control of both chambers of Congress during the coming
https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/. Nevertheless, Trump made the case
in his speech that the world is better off for his leadership.
"I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day," Trump said.
In https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FtIS-dX750&t=2s at the U.N., Trump
claimed the U.S. had "demolished" Iran's nuclear capabilities after he ordered
https://apnews.com/article/iran-fordo-us-strike-trump-israel-nuclear-sites-320a8
5327f94ed7496f09564261f3148 of three key facilities.
He returned to the General Assembly nearing the seven-month mark of a new
war against Iran that he insists is necessary to address a nuclear threat posed
by the Islamic Republic.
The war has grown more complicated even though strikes by the United States
and Israel have killed much of Iran's top leadership and destroyed its air
force and navy, while a U.S. blockade of Iranian oil has left Tehran in
https://apnews.com/article/iran-hormuz-war-economy-552b1ebe9ae8a9628bad089c9e874
93f.
The energy market continues to be spooked by the war and oil prices remain
elevated. Saudi Arabia earlier this month
https://apnews.com/article/saudi-pipeline-oil-iran-war-efa431e2fa771e34880c8453c
62ffb92 that acted as a relief valve for oil blocked in the Gulf. The kingdom
made the move after the pipeline came under attack by Iran-backed militants in
Iraq.
At the same time,
https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-war-hormuz-ship-struck-aa034da0d8226f5a3b4794
b10afb8b3b, another Iranian-backed group, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait has now
made it treacherous for oil carriers to use that Red Sea shipping lane.
Trump's frustration with Russia-Ukraine war mounts
In his address, the president also touched on
https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine -- a conflict that during his 2024
campaign he predicted would be
https://apnews.com/projects/trump-campaign-promise-tracker/ of his second term.
He once again expressed hope that the conflict will soon be resolved.
Trump hasn't obscured that his patience is being tested by Ukraine's
targeting of Russia's diesel refineries -- an issue that's added to the global
oil markets' volatility -- and Russia's targeting of Ukraine's energy grid.
Trump noted that last week he
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-russia-sanctions-ukraine-lindsey-graham-
d1715ad5e8feccba76bfae51c5f28c45 targeting Moscow. It empowers him to impose up
to 100% tariffs on the top five importers of Russian oil or natural gas.
The legislation includes an exception for countries that import less than
15% of Russia's natural gas exports and have taken significant steps to reduce
those imports. Trump, however, has yet to enact the stiff penalties.
"If necessary, I will have to use them," Trump said. "It's time to stop the
killing."
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