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President Donald Trump announced that American and Iranian officials held a three-hour meeting in New York on September 22 just hours after he told the UN General Assembly he faced a big decision on whether to help rebuild Iran or annihilate the Islamic Republic. Trump described the session involving his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as very good and said it showed momentum toward an agreement that would prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. The Iranian delegation including mid-level officials walked out of the hall about 10 minutes into Trump’s address according to The Hindu which reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were not present for the speech.
Trump told reporters after meeting British Prime Minister Andy Burnham that Iranian officials had been talking to the US even that day and the relationship was developing but he stressed they could not be allowed a nuclear weapon. In his UN speech Trump said “I have a big decision to make 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.” Reuters reported that an Iranian official described the UN gathering as a golden opportunity to revive diplomacy while conveying proposals through mediators the previous week.
The talks marked the first known face-to-face contact since an interim memorandum of understanding collapsed in July following its signing in June a development detailed in a July 2026 UK House of Commons research briefing that outlined earlier rounds of negotiations in February April and June. That briefing noted the MOU addressed freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and sanctions after a conflict that began in February with US and Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities. A New York Times account from mid-June described how negotiators focused on a potential 15-year suspension of uranium enrichment downblending of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and limits on nuclear sites at Natanz Fordow and Isfahan.
Iranian state media reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz including lifting a US naval blockade releasing frozen assets and ending regional fighting involving Iran-aligned groups as carried by the Kyiv Post. Iran’s Armed Forces dismissed Trump’s UN comments as propaganda and stated their response would be full readiness to inflict more severe crushing and unpredictable blows on aggressors according to Cyprus Mail. Steve Witkoff posted on social media that mediators shuttled between the sides throughout the day and expressed hope the discussions would prove constructive with follow-up planned.
The nearly seven-month conflict has killed thousands driven up global oil prices and drawn in neighboring countries as noted in reports from Al Jazeera and PBS News. Trump tied expectations for a deal to developments after US midterm elections but said the election would not influence his stance on preventing a nuclear Iran. A senior US official had earlier emphasized in June briefings that sanctions relief would come only in steps tied to Iranian compliance on its nuclear program according to The New York Times.
