President Donald Trump said has said that he would “probably be open” to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, even as he described himself as being in “deciding mode” over the next phase of the US conflict with Iran.
The remarks were relayed by Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst after a conversation with Trump. Yingst said he asked the president whether he would meet Pezeshkian, who is expected in New York for the 81st General Assembly session. “He said he’d probably be open to it,” Yingst reported.
Donald Trump also said “very big things are going to be happening in the not-so-distant future” and laid out three options he said were on the table: further military action, continued economic pressure, or a negotiated deal.
“My question is, if and when do I blow the entire nation up?” Donald Trump told Fox News. “They better behave.”
Yingst said the President described the choices as “wiping Iran out, letting them rot economically or making a deal.”
The comments came as world leaders prepare to gather in New York. Trump is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Tuesday. Pezeshkian is expected to speak Wednesday and meet other leaders on the sidelines, according to Iranian media.
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The State Department has already issued US visas to Iran’s core U.N. delegation, including Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, citing Washington’s obligations as host country.
A meeting between Donald Trump and Pezeshkian has not been confirmed. If it occurred, it would be the first direct encounter between the two presidents since US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February opened a conflict now entering its seventh month.
President Trump has also said he plans to meet leaders from Gulf Cooperation Council countries during the U.N. week to discuss regional security and the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian officials said Sunday that Tehran had sent Washington, through mediators including Qatar, a list of conditions for ending the fighting and reopening the strait. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said those conditions included an end to hostilities, the release of frozen funds and an end to the naval blockade.
Iran’s military separately warned against any new large-scale attack, saying it had information that such a strike was being prepared and that regional countries aiding the United States would be treated as parties to the conflict.
Donald Trump has repeatedly mixed threats of escalation with talk of a possible deal. His latest comments leave both paths open as the two leaders converge on New York.
