New York talks via Qatar
The United States and Iran held their first round of negotiations in three months in New York on Tuesday in an indirect format, with Qatari mediators conveying messages between two teams in separate rooms. The talks lasted about three hours, and Trump said his chief envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Iranian officials on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Witkoff were confirmed by Iranian state media as part of the engagement, while mediators led by Ali Al-Dhawadi moved between the rooms to carry positions and responses.
The negotiations focused on Iran’s conditions for resuming negotiations, alongside Iran’s demands related to opening the Hormuz Strait for navigation. The American response to Iran’s linkage of strait access to demands said, “Sorry, but you do not actually control the Hormuz Strait,” and added, “It is not clear to us why you think you have any standing on this matter.”
Al JazeeraRhetoric, demands, and mediation
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he held a “very good” meeting, and he said he saw “a lot of momentum for them to make a deal.” Iran’s Armed Forces dismissed Trump’s UN remarks as sheer “propaganda,” and the statement vowed “full combat readiness to deliver severe, crushing and unpredictable retaliatory strikes against any aggressors”. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei confirmed that Tehran engaged in mediated communications with Washington in New York and formally put forward its core demands for resuming substantive negotiations.
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Trump’s plan implies a deal after midterms. Reported by BBC and CNBC.
Iran’s conditions included an end to the naval blockade and economic warfare, and the release of Iranian assets, as IRNA reported. Witkoff said in a posting on X that Tuesday’s talks were conducted through mediators who shuttled between the US and Iranian teams, and he added that he was hopeful the effort “will prove constructive and promising.”
Al JazeeraStakes: Hormuz, assets, and escalation
The talks left the parties far apart on key issues, and Iran’s messages at the UN General Assembly were described as inconsistent as optimism faded about a diplomatic opening between the United States and Iran. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran conveyed its conditions for resuming diplomacy with Washington through Qatar in a new round of indirect talks, while Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei replied that the country’s conditions for dialogue remained unchanged. Rezaei said Iran would not negotiate or reopen the Strait of Hormuz until those conditions were met, following a meeting between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. officials in New York.
The National’s sources said Iran handed the United States a roadmap to end the conflict, including a regional ceasefire and phased reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The same reporting said Brent briefly surpassed the $106 level on Thursday, with West Texas Intermediate climbing to $93.79 per barrel as markets reacted to the stalled diplomacy.