US team meets with Iranians despite Trump’s annihilation threat

[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump said US officials had a “very good” meeting with Iranian envoys in New York, reviving fragile hopes for a new diplomatic off-ramp hours after he again threatened to annihilate the country. Trump said the three-hour meeting – held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting – was “very productive” and that another was being planned for the near future. Iran has yet to comment on the meeting or say who attended. Trump later said his special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had participated in the meeting. The pair had led negotiations with Iran that preceded the US and Israeli military campaign that began in late February and has roiled the Middle East, as well as global energy markets. “I feel very good right now,” Witkoff responded when asked about the talks. The tone of the remarks stood in stark contrast to Trump’s aggressive stance during his speech to the UN General Assembly earlier on Tuesday (Sep 22). In that address, he repeated his past threats to wipe out the country unless its leaders come to an agreement. “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?” Trump said. The US administration has signalled a renewed effort to bring the war in the Middle East to a close, with Trump claiming in his speech that the conflict will end just after November’s US midterm elections. Before arriving in New York, Trump had indicated openness to meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The mere possibility of a meeting – as well as reports Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the US drops its blockade – helped drive a decline in Brent crude on Tuesday. The contradictory remarks demonstrated Trump’s penchant for swerving between renewed threats and promises of imminent peace. He is under pressure to end the war as soon as possible given its unpopularity with voters at home. The war has pushed gas prices higher, led Iran to target US bases in the region, killed 19 US service members and disrupted the flow of oil around the world.

Iran has so far refused to give up its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran-funded Houthi rebels in Yemen are again threatening to target shipping in the Red Sea. Officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a six-member bloc including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, were set to meet Trump on Tuesday and plan to urge him not to escalate hostilities with Iran. The GCC states are keen to end a conflict that has seen their territories and ships attacked by thousands of Iranian missiles and drones. It is also causing their economies to contract or slow significantly, largely due to the ongoing disruption to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Hostilities are far less intense than at the height of the war in March and early April. Yet the two sides appear far from recommitting to a ceasefire that was signed in June but quickly broke down. Trump has repeatedly insisted that Iran give up any plan to develop a nuclear weapon – something the country has said it does not want – as well as ease its stranglehold over the strait and stop funding proxy groups including the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas. Iran’s leaders, for their part, have demanded relief from years of crushing sanctions imposed by the US and a promise that Trump and his successors will not attack their country again. BLOOMBERG