Iran · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Trump Says Intermediaries Met With Iran as Zarif Meets Qatar’s Prime Minister at UN
Trump threatened to annihilate Iran during UN General Assembly address. Iranian president vowed not to bow and remained open to diplomacy.
Whether to foreground annihilation rhetoric or diplomatic off-ramp.
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Democracy Now! foregrounds anti-war, anti-oligarchy context, while the BBC and Al Jazeera stress UN speeches and diplomacy openings.
UN threats, new talks
U.S. President Donald Trump said “Steve and Jared held a very productive meeting today with Iranian intermediaries, just intermediaries,” as the United States and Iran held first talks in months on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
““Steve and Jared held a very productive meeting today with Iranian intermediaries, just intermediaries.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Iranian officials told Reuters the meeting with U.S. emissaries was not face-to-face.
Trump added, “Intermediation between the two sides has been going on for some time,” while Reuters reported the contacts were the first diplomatic opening in months since the July collapse of negotiations and the resumption of fighting across the region.
The Middle East war context included U.S. and Iranian officials meeting Tuesday at the UN gathering, and the U.S. Central Command saying its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz had redirected 115 commercial vessels entering or exiting Iranian ports.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei reiterated that no deal would be signed until the U.S. removes the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.
Pezeshkian rejects pressure
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused Donald Trump of a “bullying mentality” at the United Nations General Assembly and said Iran would not surrender in the war with the United States. Pezeshkian told the 193-member UN General Assembly that “The Iranian people will not bow to pressure,” while he rejected Trump’s warning that he could annihilate Iran if no deal were reached. Pezeshkian also said, “The American president called us terrorists, but we are victims of terrorism,” as he responded to Trump’s description of Iran as a terrorist state.
Aajil reported that the U.S. delegation left the UN General Assembly hall during Pezeshkian’s speech, and the report said Pezeshkian affirmed that the United States was besieging Iran and preventing it from accessing waterways. ABC News reported that Pezeshkian said, “We have been victims of terrorism,” and he insisted, “We will not bow our head and give up the right that is inherently ours.”
Conditions, sanctions, and stakes
Iran’s negotiating posture centered on conditions conveyed through intermediaries, and Al-Sharq Lil-Akhbar reported that Iran’s positions and conditions for resuming the diplomatic path were conveyed to Washington “in a way that leaves no room for doubt or ambiguity.” Al-Sharq Lil-Akhbar said Iran’s conditions included stopping what it described as Washington’s “aggressive measures,” including the naval blockade and “economic terrorism,” and it also included “end of war on all fronts” and the “release of Iranian assets frozen or restrained.” The same report said a senior Iranian official told Reuters that reopening the strait and lifting the U.S. naval blockade were among the issues discussed in Tuesday’s indirect talks.
Canada announced new sanctions on Wednesday against several senior Iranian officials and state-run entities, and the foreign ministry said the measures targeted five senior Iranian security and government officials and five state-run entities. White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said the Iranian regime “executed acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz,” and she said the President was ensuring “such an evil country never possesses a nuclear weapon.”