NEW YORK: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump is open to making a deal with Iran to end the war, while emphasising that Washington would not allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
“The core issue here is that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio told reporters in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting. He said any agreement would require “a lot of hard work over a period of time” and the involvement of mediators, rather than being reached through a press conference.
“The president is open, still to this moment, to making a deal with Iran that allows Iran to be what it should be, which is a great and prosperous country,” Rubio told reporters.
Rubio said that any deal with Iran would require a lot of hard work over a period of time and would engage and involve mediators as well.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. pic.twitter.com/COHoSPBivz
— Department of State (@StateDept) September 23, 2026
Trump says US, Iran hold meeting in New York
President Trump said on Tuesday that senior US officials held a three-hour meeting with an Iranian delegation in New York, describing the talks as “very good” and productive.
Trump said US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner took part in the meeting, which was held shortly before he spoke to reporters following his address to the UN General Assembly.
“We had a very good meeting. I mean, I must tell you it was a very good, very productive meeting,” Trump said, adding that another meeting had been scheduled “in the very near future”.
President Trump Participates in a Multilateral Meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council https://t.co/GMMkjnmNJL
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 22, 2026
Witkoff also described the talks positively but did not provide details.
According to The New York Times, citing Iranian officials, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the Iranian delegation, while Pakistan and Qatar mediated the meeting.
Trump did not disclose details of the discussions but reiterated his demand that Iran never acquire a nuclear weapon.
In his UN address earlier on Tuesday, he had presented Tehran with what he described as a choice between a deal that would allow it to prosper and what he called “obliteration”.
“Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? … Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly?” Trump said on the floor of the UN as he threatened to destroy an entire nation.
Iran reviewing US response
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that Tuesday’s indirect meeting with the US saw “another round of message exchange and clarification took place through mediators”.
“In this process, which lasted about two hours, Iran’s positions and conditions for reviving diplomacy in a manner that leaves no doubt or ambiguity and provides no excuses or pretexts for any party were conveyed to the American side,” Baghaei wrote on X.
دیروز در حاشیه نشست مجمع عمومی سازمان ملل متحد، در ادامه گفتگوهایی که توسط کشورهای میانجی بین ایران و آمریکا در جریان بوده است، دور دیگری از تبادل و تبیین پیام از طریق میانجی قطری بین ایران و آمريکا صورت گرفت.
در این فرآیند که حدود دو ساعت به طول انجامید، مواضع و شروط ایران برای…
— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) September 23, 2026
Baghaei said that the conditions include the cessation of US military action, ceasing the naval blockade and “economic terrorism”, ending the war on all fronts and the release of Iran’s frozen or restricted assets, among others.
Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official, cited by Reuters, said that Tehran was reviewing the US response to its proposal to end the war.
A reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and lifting of the US naval blockade on Iran were discussed during indirect talks with the US on Tuesday, the official added, according to Reuters.
