Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attends the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, U.S. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

President Donald Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials met Tuesday (September 22, 2026), an unexpected engagement that came even as he threatened in his address to the UN General Assembly that he may “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if a deal isn’t reached soon to end the nearly seven-month war.

Mr. Trump told reporters that his chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met with the Iranian officials on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders, but he offered few details about how the discussions transpired or the substance of the exchange.

“It was a very good meeting,” Mr. Trump said. The President later added that the Iranian officials were “not at the highest level, but it’s something.”

The engagement comes after months of U.S.-Iran communications languishing following the collapse of a short-lived ceasefire that was brokered in June.

U.S. and Iranian negotiators met separately with Qatari and Pakistani mediators in Doha in early July for indirect talks.

Earlier Tuesday (September 22, 2026), Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Mr. Trump is open to meeting with Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, while he’s in New York for the General Assembly.

“This is a President that will meet with anybody for the most part, because he believes that engaging with people is important if you’re going to solve problems,” Mr. Rubio said on NBC‘s “Today” show. “It doesn’t mean you’re going to end up agreeing with them, but it’s important.”

Mr. Trump also met on Tuesday (September 22, 2026) with leaders and senior officials from Gulf Cooperation Council nations – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – as well as Jordan to discuss the way ahead with the war in Iran.

In his address to the General Assembly, Mr. Trump made the case that he’s shown fortitude while other leaders have equivocated as he defended his decision to start a war with Iran.

But Mr. Trump also suggested that he could be at a crossroads in the conflict, even as he called on the Islamic Republic to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table to find a settlement to end the conflict.

“I have a big decision to make,” Mr. Trump said. “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?”

The President’s comments came in his wide-ranging address to the international body in which he also celebrated this year’s U.S. military operation to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power, a new agreement to expand the U.S. military presence in Greenland, and pushed back against calls for greater regulation of the artificial intelligence industry.

But at the heart of the address was a fulsome defence of the war and pushback on the notion that Iran has shown a measure of resilience.

“The terrorist regime is behaving badly, not because they are strong and confident, but because they are weak and desperate,” Mr. Trump said.

Most of Iran’s delegation walked out of the chamber as Mr. Trump railed against the Islamic Republic.

After his speech, Mr. Trump gathered with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on the sidelines of the General Assembly to sign a new security agreement.

The deal, announced last week, came together after Mr. Trump repeatedly threatened to “take over” Greenland, a territory of NATO-ally Denmark, by military force if necessary.

Mr. Trump said Tuesday (September 22, 2026) the U.S. will immediately begin the process of developing a larger military presence in Greenland including “building two very major military bases”.

Under the deal, Greenland remains Denmark’s territory.

Mr. Trump also held talks with new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He’s expected to hold a more informal meeting on Tuesday (September 22, 2026) evening with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, according to the White House.

Mr. Trump also took part in an event on the Shield of the Americas, an initiative Mr. Trump launched with Latin American countries earlier this year focused on combatting violent cartels.

The visit to the UN comes as Mr. Trump’s foreign policy approach – particularly his decision to start a war with Iran – has become a drag on his fellow Republicans’ hopes of retaining control of both chambers of Congress during the coming midterm elections.

Nevertheless, Mr. Trump made the case in his speech that the world is better off for his leadership.

“I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day,” Mr. Trump said.

In last year’s address at the UN, Mr. Trump claimed the U.S. had “demolished” Iran’s nuclear capabilities after he ordered the June 2025 bombardment of three key facilities.

He returned to the General Assembly nearing the seven-month mark of a new war against Iran that he insists is necessary to address a nuclear threat posed by Iran.

The war has grown more complicated even though strikes by the United States and Israel have killed much of Iran’s top leadership and destroyed its air force and navy, while a U.S. blockade of Iranian oil has left Tehran in economic shambles.

The energy market continues to be spooked by the war and oil prices remain elevated.

Saudi Arabia earlier this month shuttered a key pipeline that acted as a relief valve for oil blocked in the Gulf. The kingdom made the move after the pipeline came under attack by Iran-backed militants in Iraq.

At the same time, territorial grabs by the Yemen-based Houthi rebels, another Iranian-backed group, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait has now made it treacherous for oil carriers to use that Red Sea shipping lane.

In his address, the President also touched on Russia’s continuing war against Ukraine – a conflict that, during his 2024 campaign, he predicted would be resolved on Day One of his second term. He once again expressed hope that the conflict will soon be resolved.

Mr. Trump hasn’t obscured that his patience is being tested by Ukraine’s targeting of Russia’s diesel refineries – an issue that’s added to the global oil markets’ volatility – and Russia’s targeting of Ukraine’s energy grid.

Mr. Trump last week asserted that he got the two sides to agree to not target each other’s energy infrastructure.

Mr. Zelenskyy had said he was willing to go along with Mr. Trump’s plan if Russia abided by it. Russia said it could only go along with Mr. Trump’s energy truce proposal if Western energy sanctions on Moscow were lifted first.

The two sides have continued carrying out strikes on refineries and other energy infrastructure.

Mr. Trump noted that last week he signed a new sanctions bill targeting Moscow. It empowers him to impose up to 100% tariffs on the top five importers of Russian oil or natural gas.

The legislation includes an exception for countries that import less than 15% of Russia’s natural gas exports and have taken significant steps to reduce those imports. Mr. Trump, however, has yet to enact the stiff penalties.

“If necessary, I will have to use them,” Mr. Trump said. “It’s time to stop the killing.”

EAM S. Jaishankar meets with the Visegrád Group on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. Photo credit: @DrSJaishankar/X