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UNITED NATIONS:US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that he could annihilate Iran if there is no deal to end the war, but also suggested an agreement \u200bcould come soon amid a diplomatic push at the United Nations.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI have a big decision to make,\u201d Trump said in a speech at the UN General Assembly in \u200cNew York.<\/p>\n \u201cWill a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before?\u2026 Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement on Tuesday, Iran\u2019s Armed Forces dismissed Trump\u2019s comments at the UN as \u201cpropaganda\u201d, saying their response is \u201cfull readiness to inflict more severe, crushing, and unpredictable blows on the aggressors.\u201d<\/p>\n But away from the fiery \u200brhetoric, discussions continued to try to end the nearly seven-month conflict that began with joint US-Israeli strikes and has since killed thousands, driven up oil prices and drawn in neighboring \u200bcountries.<\/p>\n US envoy Steve Witkoff in a post on X said that the United States and Iran engaged in lengthy talks on Tuesday on the sidelines of \u2060the UN General Assembly through mediators \u201cwho shuttled between the two sides throughout the day\u201d.<\/p>\n The mediators will continue their work, Witkoff added, saying that he hoped Tuesday\u2019s discussions would \u201cprove constructive and promising.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump also met the \u200bleaders of Middle Eastern countries who are keen to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for a fifth of global oil and gas shipments before the war, but are wary of giving \u200btheir longstanding rival Iran too much power.<\/p>\n Many also host huge US military bases that have come under repeated Iranian attack throughout the war. The diplomatic maneuvering comes as Trump faces pressure on multiple fronts \u2014 rising energy costs at home, a widening regional conflict abroad, and the midterms six weeks away that \u200bcould reshape his political standing. Whether talks produce a deal or the war escalates further carries consequences for global oil markets, Gulf security and millions of Iranians.<\/p>\n Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi met with Prime \u200bMinister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani of Qatar, which has spent months trying to de-escalate the conflict, the Qatari state news agency reported.<\/p>\n A senior Iranian official said Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within days if \u200cthe US \u2060eased military pressure and lifted its blockade on Iranian ports.<\/p>\n The senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran had conveyed its latest proposal to Washington through mediators last week and could reopen the strait to Gulf shipping within seven days if its demands were met.<\/p>\n In a reminder of Iran\u2019s firm position so far, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who headed Iran\u2019s negotiating team at previous talks, said Iran would never surrender: \u201cTrump must understand that he cannot impose his power on the Iranian people and its armed forces.\u201d<\/p>\n WIDENING REGIONAL CONFLICT<\/strong><\/p>\n On the table at the Gulf states\u2019 meeting with Trump is a Qatari proposal for a common security framework \u200binvolving Iran and the Arab Gulf states, regional sources \u200bsaid. One source said Iran was reviewing \u2060the proposal.<\/p>\n Al Thani has said any such arrangement would need to provide security guarantees for the Gulf states and expand economic interdependence with Iran.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia, the largest of the Gulf states, has been drawn deeper into the war this month as Iran-aligned Houthi fighters have advanced in Yemen, routing forces of the \u200bSaudi-backed government and threatening Saudi oil exports through the Red Sea.<\/p>\n The US, which bombed the Houthis for two months last year, has so far rebuffed \u200brepeated pleas from Saudi Arabia\u2019s \u2060Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to rejoin the fight. The New York Times reported that Trump called off US strikes against the Houthis on Sunday at the last minute.<\/p>\n Asked why Washington had held back from striking the Houthis, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States would always support Saudi Arabia, adding:<\/p>\n \u201cThat said, that is a very dangerous and complex conflict that pre-exists \u2026 We have a history with the Houthis as \u2060well, and that\u2019s \u200bsomething we don\u2019t want to see impacted either.\u201d<\/p>\n Oil markets did find some relief on Tuesday after sources told Reuters that \u200bSaudi Arabia had restarted operations at its East-West Pipeline and could resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu within hours, albeit at reduced volumes.<\/p>\n The pipeline, Saudi Arabia\u2019s main export route bypassing wartime disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, had been shut after \u200battacks this month that Riyadh blamed on Iranian-backed groups in Iraq.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe think that the situation with Iran could end right after the (November 3) midterm elections, maybe before. I don\u2019t know. You never know,\u201d Trump said as he met the leaders.<\/p>\n