US President Donald Trump warned that he could “annihilate” Iran if Washington fails to reach a peace deal with Tehran, while American and Iranian officials held talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
Addressing the UNGA, Trump said he faced a “big decision” over whether to strike Iran again or pursue an agreement that would allow the Islamic Republic to rebuild, reports BBC.
“I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before?” Trump said. “Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”
A single member of Iran’s delegation watched Trump’s speech as he defended the US military campaign, saying it had prevented Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He also argued that the conflict demonstrated the value of what he called peace through strength.
Trump said he expected an Iran deal to come after the US midterm elections in November and urged other countries to help economically isolate Tehran.
Later, Trump said US officials had held a “very productive” three-hour meeting with Iranian representatives on the sidelines of the UNGA.
Iranian state television confirmed that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff. Witkoff later said the discussions took place through mediators who moved between the two sides during the day.
“They successfully completed a round of discussions that we hope will prove constructive and promising,” Witkoff posted on X. “The mediators will continue their work.”
The talks came as Trump met more than a dozen world leaders in New York, with the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine dominating his foreign-policy agenda.
Trump also said he was working with Russian and Ukrainian leaders to end the war in Ukraine.
“We’re working very closely with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, and we will get that one done,” he said. “It’s going to happen, I think, more quickly than people understand.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York on Wednesday, according to the State Department.
Trump also defended the US position on artificial intelligence, saying Washington would not surrender its lead to China because of what he described as alarmism or a “globalist scheme” to control the technology.
The president said artificial intelligence should instead be called “super intelligence”.
“The use of the word artificial makes it sound fake,” he said. “It’s not fake, it’s actually amazing. But we have to be careful.”
On the sidelines of the UNGA, Trump also signed an agreement with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland to strengthen the US military presence on the North Atlantic island.
The agreement reaffirms Greenland’s sovereignty as an autonomous territory of Denmark while giving the US broad access to its airspace and territory.
Trump also held meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
The latter meeting, which also included other Arab and Islamic leaders, discussed regional developments, the situation in the Middle East and ways to strengthen security and stability, according to the UAE foreign minister.
Earlier, UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered his farewell address to the General Assembly and urged unnamed superpowers to recognise “that their power isn’t so super”.
“The fault lines in our world are widening,” Guterres said, referring to geopolitical rivalries, wars, climate change and artificial intelligence.
Trump, however, criticised international institutions, accusing the UN of a “far-left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected”.
He instead stressed national sovereignty and US military power.
“There is no global government,” he said.
Trump also warned that the US would not allow threats to establish themselves anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.
“If necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interests of the United States,” he said.
He accused Cuba’s communist government of cultivating links with left-wing groups in the US, including the Communist Party USA, Antifa and the Democratic Socialists of America.
The Cuban delegation appeared to leave the assembly chamber as Trump turned his attention to Cuba, which he described as a “failed state”.
