President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States and Iran were in contact over a possible settlement, even as he warned world leaders that failure to reach an agreement could bring a devastating escalation of the nearly seven-month war.
The diplomatic activity unfolded during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where Trump addressed leaders from around the world and later met with representatives of Gulf countries affected by the conflict. He said his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had held a productive meeting with mediators working on Iran. Trump also said the two governments had communicated that day, though he did not identify the officials involved or say how the contact occurred. No meeting between Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was announced.
Trump’s U.N. address offered Tehran the prospect of rebuilding through an agreement and threatened far more destructive American military action if diplomacy failed. He defended the U.S. campaign launched with Israel on February 28, repeated his demand that Iran never obtain a nuclear weapon and urged other countries to isolate Iran economically. He said that pressure should continue until Iran stopped attacks on commercial shipping and ended its support for terrorism.
The president predicted that a settlement could follow the November 3 U.S. midterm elections, possibly sooner. He provided no negotiating timetable or proposed terms. His account of Tuesday’s contact came after months of intermittent efforts to end a war that has killed thousands, drawn in neighboring countries and disrupted energy shipments.
Iran gave no indication that it would accept Washington’s demands without concessions. Its armed forces rejected Trump’s warning and said they were prepared to respond to further attacks. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met Tuesday with Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whose government has worked to ease the conflict.
The Strait of Hormuz remains a major obstacle to an agreement. Before the war, roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments passed through the waterway. A senior Iranian official said Tehran could reopen it to Gulf shipping within seven days if the United States eased military pressure and lifted its blockade of Iranian ports. According to the official, Iran sent the proposal to Washington through mediators last week. The United States had not announced acceptance of those conditions.
Trump also met with Gulf leaders seeking to restore shipping while protecting their countries from further attacks. Several host American military facilities that have been targeted during the war. Qatar has explored a regional security arrangement involving Iran and Arab Gulf states, although no agreement emerged from Tuesday’s meetings.
Pezeshkian and Araqchi were permitted to attend the General Assembly despite the war, subject to U.S. restrictions on their travel in New York. Their presence placed officials from both governments at the same gathering, but produced no publicly confirmed meeting between the countries’ leaders.
By the end of Tuesday, Trump was expressing confidence in a deal while Iran continued to seek relief from American military and economic pressure. Diplomacy was active through mediators and regional leaders, but neither government had announced a ceasefire, a formal negotiating schedule or terms for ending the war.