Key Points
- Witkoff and Kushner met Iranian officials at the UN, Trump said, calling it a very good meeting.
- Talks are the first since late June, hours after Trump threatened to annihilate Iran.
- Brent held near $99 a barrel as Washington weighs sanctions on Iranian airline routes.
The latest:
Senior US officials met Iranian counterparts on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, hours after President Donald Trump threatened in his address to annihilate the Islamic republic. Trump said envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held a very good meeting with the Iranian delegation, and that further talks would follow in the near future. Iranian state television reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attended.
Details:
- The meeting: Trump said after his address that Witkoff and Kushner met members of the Iranian delegation, the first direct US-Iran contact since late June, according to Iranian state television, which reported Araghchi’s attendance. Trump said more talks were set for the near future but did not name a date or venue.
- The threat: In his speech Trump said he faced a big decision over the Iran conflict and framed Tehran’s options as potential greatness or obliteration. He said he could annihilate the Islamic republic and do it quickly if Iran did not accept US terms for a deal that, in his words, lets the country rebuild.
- Oil markets: Prices were flat in Asian trading on Wednesday. Brent crude, the international benchmark, traded around $99.24 a barrel, while US oil edged down 0.3 per cent to $90.22. The war has ignited a global energy crisis and triggered broader violence across the Middle East.
- Aviation squeeze: Washington is threatening sanctions on air service providers in countries where Iranian airlines operate, a step that would further cut Iran off from the outside world. A spokesperson for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said Oman and Iraq were preparing to stop receiving Iranian carriers.
- Election timing: Trump predicted a peace agreement immediately after November’s midterm elections, which will decide whether Republicans keep control of Congress. He said Iran was waiting to see how he performs at the polls, while insisting the vote was not shaping his approach to the war.
- Munitions dispute: Trump rejected warnings from defence analysts and US officials that American munitions stockpiles have run critically low, calling those repeating the information “cowards and traitors”. He said the claim was untrue and that the US has more munitions than it could ever use.
- Wider targets: Trump hailed the US overthrow of Venezuela’s president and threatened possible military action against Mexico, Cuba and other western countries, saying America would use its military might if necessary. Cuba’s delegation walked out of the hall as he predicted the country would fall.
- UN institutions: Trump thanked the Security Council for backing a resolution condemning Iran, then derided the Human Rights Council as craven hypocrites. He called the International Criminal Court out of control and accused the International Maritime Organization of seeking global government through a proposed carbon tax.
- Domestic pressure: The war has isolated Washington internationally and pushed Trump’s approval ratings to new lows before the election. Diesel hit its highest recorded average at $6.50 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Association, adding to voter frustration over inflation and petrol prices.
- Guterres pushback: Shortly before Trump spoke, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said no power can solve today’s challenges alone and reminded superpowers their power is not so super. He said military power alone cannot secure peace, and that so-called ceasefires had amounted to little more than lesser fires.
Background:
Trump spoke for 33 minutes, a shorter and more subdued performance than his nearly hour-long address from the same podium a year earlier, when he told Europe it was going to hell.
Between the lines:
Trump’s own framing links diplomacy to the calendar: he predicted a deal right after the midterms while accusing Tehran of waiting on the same result. That sits alongside flat oil at $99 Brent, record diesel prices and approval ratings at new lows, which together suggest the pressure to de-escalate is domestic as much as strategic, even as the aviation sanctions threat tightens the squeeze.
What’s next
Watch for the next round of US-Iran talks, whether Oman and Iraq formally halt Iranian flights, and the November midterm results Trump has tied to any deal.
