UNITED NATIONS (AP) mdash; President Donald Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials met Tuesday, an unexpected engagement that came even as he threatened in his address to the U.N. General Assembly that he may ldquo;annihilaterdquo; the Islamic Republic if a deal isnrsquo;t reached soon to end the ne arly seven-month war.Trump told reporters that his chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met for about three hours with the Iranian officials on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders but he offered few details about how the discussions transpired or the substance of the exchange.ldquo;It was a very good meeting,rdquo; Trump said. The president later added that the Iranian officials were ldquo;not the highest level, but itrsquo;s something.rdquo;Witkoff said in a posting on X that the talks were conducted through mediators who shuttled between the U.S. and Iranian teams. He added that he was hopeful the effort ldquo;will prove constructive and promising.rdquo;The engagement comes after months of U.S.-Iran communications languishing following the collapse of a short-lived ceasefire that was brokered in June. U.S. and Iranian negotiators met separately with Qatari and Pakistani mediators in Doha in early July for indirect talks.Earlier Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump is open to meeting with Iranrsquo;s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, while hersquo;s in New York for the General Assembly.ldquo;This is a president that will meet with anybody for the most part, because he believes that engaging with people is important if yoursquo;re going to solve problems,rdquo; Rubio said on NBCrsquo;s ldquo;Todayrdquo; show. ldquo;It doesnrsquo;t mean yoursquo;re going to end up agreeing with them, but itrsquo;s important.rdquo;Trump also met Tuesday with leaders and senior officials from Gulf Cooperation Council nations mdash; Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates mdash; as well as Jordan to discuss the way ahead with the war in Iran.In his address to the General Assembly, Trump made the case that hersquo;s shown fortitude while other leaders have equivocated as he defended his decision to start a war with Iran.But Trump also suggested that he could be at a crossroads in the conflict even as he called on the Islamic Republic to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table to find a settlement to end the conflict.ldquo;I have a big decision to make,rdquo; Trump said. ldquo;Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world. Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?rdquo;The presidentrsquo;s comments came in his wide-ranging address to the international body in which he also celebrated this yearrsquo;s U.S. military operation to oust Venezuelan President Nicolaacute;s Maduro from power, hailed a new agreement to expand the U.S. military presence in Greenland, and pushed back against calls for greater regulation of the artificial intelligence industry.But at the heart of the address was a fulsome defense of the war and pushback on the notion that Iran has shown a measure of resilience.ldquo;The terrorist regime is behaving badly, not because they are strong and confident, but because they are weak and desperate,rdquo; Trump said.Most of Iranrsquo;s delegation walked out of the chamber as Trump railed against the Islamic Republic.Trumprsquo;s speech began a busy day of diplomacyAfter his speech, Trump gathered with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on the sidelines of the General Assembly to sign a new security agreement.AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports Russia and Ukraine trade strikes ahead of Zelenskyy-Trump talks.The deal, announced last week, came together after Trump repeatedly threatened to ldquo;take overrdquo; Greenland, a territory of NATO-ally Denmark, by military force if necessary. Trump said Tuesday the U.S. will immediately begin the process of developing a larger military presence in Greenland including ldquo;building two very major military bases.rdquo;Under the deal, Greenland remains Denmarkrsquo;s territory.Trump also held talks with new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Trump and several senior aides also met with Venezuelarsquo;s acting President Delcy Rodriacute;guez on Tuesday evening during a leadersrsquo; reception, according to the White House.It was the first meeting between the two leaders since Trump in January ordered the mission to capture Maduro and sweep him off to New York City to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges. Madurorsquo;s lawyers have objected to the U.S. military action that snatched him from power.Iran war looms large at General AssemblyThe visit to the U.N. comes as Trumprsquo;s foreign policy approach mdash; particularly his decision to start a war with Iran mdash; has become a drag on his fellow Republicansrsquo; hopes of retaining control of both chambers of Congress during the coming midterm elections. Nevertheless, Trump made the case in his speech that the world is better off for his leadership.ldquo;I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day,rdquo; Trump said.In last yearrsquo;s address at the U.N., Trump claimed the U.S. had ldquo;demolishedrdquo; Iranrsquo;s nuclear capabilities after he ordered the June 2025 bombardment of three key facilities.He returned to the General Assembly nearing the seven-month mark of a new war against Iran that he insists is necessary to address a nuclear threat posed by the Islamic Republic.The war has grown more complicated even though strikes by the United States and Israel have killed much of Iranrsquo;s top leadership and destroyed its air force and navy, while a U.S. blockade of Iranian oil has left Tehran in economic shambles.The energy market continues to be spooked by the war and oil prices remain elevated. Saudi Arabia earlier this month shuttered a key pipeline that acted as a relief valve for oil blocked in the Gulf. The kingdom made the move after the pipeline came under attack by Iran-backed militants in Iraq.At the same time, territorial grabs by the Yemen-based Houthi rebels, another Iranian-backed group, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait has now made it treacherous for oil carriers to use that Red Sea shipping lane.Trumprsquo;s frustration with Russia-Ukraine war mountsIn his address, the president also touched on Russiarsquo;s continuing war against Ukraine mdash; a conflict that during his 2024 campaign he predicted would be resolved on Day One of his second term. He once again expressed hope that the conflict will soon be resolved.Trump hasnrsquo;t obscured that his patience is being tested by Ukrainersquo;s targeting of Russiarsquo;s diesel refineries mdash; an issue thatrsquo;s added to the global oil marketsrsquo; volatility mdash; and Russiarsquo;s targeting of Ukrainersquo;s energy grid.Trump noted that last week he signed a new sanctions bill targeting Moscow. It empowers him to impose up to 100% tariffs on the top five importers of Russian oil or natural gas.The legislation includes an exception for countries that import less than 15% of Russiarsquo;s natural gas exports and have taken significant steps to reduce those imports. Trump, however, has yet to enact the stiff penalties.ldquo;If necessary, I will have to use them,rdquo; Trump said. ldquo;Itrsquo;s time to stop the killing.rdquo;Permalink| Comments ...read more read less