Hours after President Donald Trump's address to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, it emerged that senior US officials, including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had held a three-hour meeting with the Iranian delegation, even though the administration had said earlier in the day that no such meeting was planned.
"Yes, today," Trump said in New York when asked whether anyone on his team had met with the Iranian delegation. "About an hour ago. It ended an hour ago. It was a meeting that lasted three hours. It was a very good meeting. There's two alternatives, one is a very bad thing, and another, it could lead to greatness for the country."
Asked whether Witkoff and Kushner had taken part in the meeting, Trump replied: "They had a very good meeting, very productive meeting, and they have another one scheduled in the very near future."
Trump made the remarks during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, despite administration statements earlier in the day that no meeting with the Iranians was planned.
US sources told Israel Hayom that the talks were held with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his team, had been arranged in advance and were attended for most of the session by Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The discussion focused on the conditions for resuming negotiations, with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz at the top of the agenda. No agreement was reached on most of the outstanding disputes. Another meeting is expected in the coming days.
Trump devoted much of his UN address to Iran. Despite what appears to be a deadlock in the war, according to Trump the regime in Tehran faces a choice between an agreement that would bring an end to its nuclear program and support for terrorism, or US military action that would bring about the regime's destruction.
