Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi held talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
The Iranian side was represented by Araghchi, while Witkoff and Kushner participated for Washington. The meeting was believed to be the first direct US-Iran contact at this level in about three months. The previous face-to-face discussions took place in June, when US vice president JD Vance met Iranian officials in Switzerland.
The three-hour discussions came hours after US President Donald Trump delivered a hardline UN speech in which he said he was still weighing whether to pursue a deal with Iran or “drive them to hell. Iranian officials said the talks were mediated, with Qatar among those helping facilitate contact between the two sides. Witkoff later said mediators moved between the American and Iranian sides throughout the day. “Today, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, we engaged in lengthy talks with the Iranian delegation through the mediators,” Witkoff said on X. He described the discussions as “constructive and promising” and said the mediators would continue their work.
A senior Iranian official also indicated that Tehran could consider reopening the strait within a week if Washington took reciprocal steps to reduce military and economic pressure, according to The Guardian.
