Trump Urges Iran Deal at UN While Calling for Global Economic Isolation of Tehran

President Donald Trump addressed the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, defending the US war in Iran and issuing a direct call for a negotiated settlement while simultaneously demanding that all nations economically isolate Tehran. Speaking from the UN podium, Trump declared he urges Iran to make a deal, said he has a major decision to make on Iran, and expressed confidence that an agreement would come right after the US election. He also asserted that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon and that a US-Iran deal will get done "one way or the other."

Trump struck a defiant tone throughout, telling the assembled world leaders that he still has roughly two and a half years remaining in office and signaling he intends to maintain pressure on Iran regardless of midterm election outcomes. He predicted oil prices will plummet once the Iran conflict is over, and separately announced that the US is rapidly adding to its weapons stockpiles with new munitions plants set to open. The Iranian delegation walked out of the chamber as Trump spoke about Iran and his pending decision on the country.

Ahead of the speech, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News that the US is open to meeting Iranian officials at the UN, and mediators were reported to be actively working to arrange a high-level US-Iran meeting. CNN reported there was currently no scheduled meeting between US and Iranian officials, though Trump was described as open to one under the right conditions. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian traveled to New York for the General Assembly, vowing on his flight to restore trust in the world and highlight what he called US oppression. Tehran's state media separately dismissed a Reuters report about potential Strait of Hormuz talks as invalid.

Gulf Arab states were set to urge Trump at a Tuesday meeting to avoid any further escalation with Iran. Rubio also reaffirmed that the US will honor its defense commitments to Saudi Arabia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was also scheduled to meet Trump on the sidelines in a push for an energy truce with Russia, underscoring the packed diplomatic agenda surrounding the annual gathering.