Trump touts ‘very good’ US-Iran meeting at UN

“But we cannot allow them — and they understand — we cannot allow them to obtain a nuclear weapon.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held three hours of talks with Iranian representatives on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, as Washington and Tehran explore the possibility of reaching an agreement over Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump described the talks as “a very good meeting” and said another meeting would take place. Witkoff said afterward that he “feels very good” about the discussions.

“They want to talk to us, they are talking to us, even today they are talking to us. The relationship is developing,” Trump said earlier during a meeting with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

“But we cannot allow them — and they understand — we cannot allow them to obtain a nuclear weapon.”

The talks came as Trump publicly weighed diplomacy against renewed military action.

Addressing the General Assembly earlier Tuesday, he said he faced a “big decision” over whether to reach an agreement that would allow Iran to rebuild or destroy the Islamic Republic.

“It has the potential for greatness or destruction,” Trump later said. “Those are the two options: in one case, destruction, and the other option is greatness. Iran can be a great country.”

Trump predicted during his UN address that an agreement could follow the US midterm elections in November.

He also urged other countries to maintain economic pressure on Tehran until it ends attacks on commercial shipping, gives up its nuclear ambitions and stops supporting terrorism.

Hours before the speech, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran was prepared to resume negotiations with Washington and that its delegation, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, had “full authority” to revive diplomacy.

The official ruled out a meeting between Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio had also signaled US willingness to engage Tehran, saying Washington was open to talks if they could help ensure “that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.”

Trump was also scheduled to meet Tuesday with Arab leaders and ministers, including representatives from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The New York Times reported that Arab officials may seek stronger US security guarantees, while the Houthi issue was also expected to be discussed.