Iran · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
US and Iran Hold Mediated UN Talks in New York as Trump Threatens Annihilate Iran
US and Iran held mediated talks on the UN General Assembly sidelines in New York. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met US envoy Steve Witkoff during the NY talks.
Whether officials met directly.
9 of 10 outlets skipped it: iran says strait stays closed until US meets its conditions.
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Al Jazeera
“accounts differed over whether officials from the two countries met directly.”Read the original ↗
The Guardian
“Iranian officials held three hours of talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff”Read the original ↗
Al Jazeera flags uncertainty about direct meetings, while The Guardian states three-hour talks as fact.
Mediated UNGA Talks Begin
The United States and Iran held hours of indirect talks through mediators on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, but accounts differed over whether officials from the two countries met directly. US special envoy Steve Witkoff said mediators “shuttled between” the American and Iranian delegations throughout Tuesday. US President Donald Trump said Witkoff and Jared Kushner held a three-hour meeting with Iranian officials, while Al Jazeera reported that the White House later clarified Trump had not attended.A
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Witkoff after weeks without direct contact, and Iranian state media said the meeting was held at the insistence of the American side. Iranian state media said the conditions included lifting the US naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets and ending the war on what Tehran describes as the “resistance” fronts.
Trump Threat, Iran Conditions
Trump delivered a confrontational UN General Assembly address that combined a possible agreement with a warning of military escalation, as he said he faced a “big decision” between reaching a deal and moving to “annihilate the Islamic Republic”. Iran’s General Staff of the Armed Forces and Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters responded in a statement carried by Iranian media, describing Trump’s threats as evidence of “strategic weakness” and saying Iran was ready to deliver “more severe, crushing, and unpredictable blows”. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran conveyed its conditions through a Qatari mediator in New York, including an end to the war on all fronts and an end to the naval blockade.
Iranian officials tied reopening the Strait of Hormuz to US steps on military pressure and the blockade, and a Reuters report cited a senior Iranian official saying Tehran could reopen Hormuz within seven days if Washington eased military pressure and lifted its blockade of Iranian ports. The BBC said no breakthrough had been reported from the meeting mediated by Qatar, and it described the talks as the first since a June ceasefire unravelled.
Regional Diplomacy and Next Steps
Qatar said it was working with Pakistan to reduce tensions between Washington and Tehran, safeguard freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and promote regional stability. Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani met Araghchi in New York on Tuesday, and Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they discussed efforts to de-escalate tensions and ways of creating conditions for dialogue. Oman also took part in maritime diplomacy over the waterway, having previously discussed maritime arrangements with Tehran aimed at facilitating navigation through the strait.
The Guardian said a senior Iranian official indicated the country was prepared to reopen the strait of Hormuz within a week as long as the US took reciprocal steps to ease military and economic pressure, while Reuters reported that a Qatari proposal for a common security framework was among the issues under consideration. TThe BBC said the US and Iran have intermittently exchanged fire since the ceasefire collapsed, and it said the US maintained a blockade of Iranian ports while Iran attacked vessels it said attempted to cross the Strait of Hormuz without authorisation.