USA20 September, 20262 min read
Trump Issues Ultimatum to Iran at UN General Assembly in New York
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Trump issued a stark ultimatum to Iran at the UN General Assembly. He framed Iran confrontation as central, tied to upcoming US elections.
Trump’s UN ultimatum
President Donald Trump addressed world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, issuing an ultimatum to Iran about whether a deal would be made or whether he would “annihilate the Islamic Republic.”
Trump told the General Assembly, “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,” and he followed it with the alternative, “Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”
BBC Verify examined Trump’s claims and cross-checked them with available evidence, including his assertion that “The 159 ships of their navy are now at the bottom of the sea.”
BBC Verify also reported that Kpler estimated the total number of crossings by all types of vessels ranged from 9 to 24 per day last week, while Trump said that through the Strait of Hormuz “more oil flows than at any other time since the start of the war” with Iran.
UNGA schedule and setting
The UN General Assembly high-level general debate opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, with the theme “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all.”
UNGA President Khalilur Rahman presided over the opening of the debate and stressed rebuilding trust, saying, “Trust is not given. It is earned.”
Al Jazeera said the debate runs through Saturday, September 26, and resumes on Monday, September 28, with no sessions held on Sunday, and it described the two daily sessions as 9am to 2:45pm and 3pm to 9pm local time.
Al Jazeera also said the United States, as the host country, usually speaks second, and President Donald Trump is expected to take the podium after Brazil on Tuesday morning, likely around 9:45am local time.
Visa fight and wider stakes
The United States refused to grant entry visas for the scheduled address to the General Assembly next Thursday, according to Reuters, after Washington declined visas for the head of the Transitional Sovereign Council and the army chief in Sudan, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Al-Hurra reported that the Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations, Al-Harit Idris Al-Harit, urged intervention after the United States refused the visas, and the ambassador warned, “If this situation continues, a head of a UN member state will be effectively barred from personally participating in General Assembly activities.”
AP described the stakes for the UN itself as leaders confronted wars and a growing funding crisis, and it said Guterres pleaded for “a world built on interdependence” in his final address before leaving office at the end of the year. AP also said the annual high-level gathering would be consumed with wars including Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Congo and Myanmar, while the future of the United Nations and reform of the Security Council remained on the agenda.