President Donald Trump told world leaders Tuesday he faces a “big decision” between reaching a deal that would allow Iran to rebuild and renewed military action he said could “annihilate” the Islamic Republic, while urging other nations to join the United States in imposing “complete economic isolation” on Tehran as Arab mediators pushed for high-level talks.
“I have a big decision to make,” Trump told the U.N. General Assembly in New York before spelling out the choice.
“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?” Trump asked. “Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”
“Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” he continued.
Even as he laid out that choice, Trump said he believes Tehran will make a deal after the midterm elections, arguing that Iranian leaders are waiting to see how Republicans fare before deciding how to proceed.
“What they don’t realize is that I’m not running,” Trump said. “I give absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election when it comes to Iran. It doesn’t even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”
At the same time, several Arab countries were in contact with both Washington and Tehran in an effort to arrange a high-level meeting on the sidelines of the General Assembly, according to Axios. Trump was also set to meet representatives of nine Arab countries Tuesday, with Iran and the war expected to feature prominently in the discussions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met earlier Tuesday in New York with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, whose government has emerged as a key intermediary in efforts to reopen a diplomatic channel.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio separately confirmed that Washington remained open to engagement while stressing that nothing had been scheduled.
“We’re open to that. I don’t think anything is scheduled at this point, but we’re certainly open to something like that, especially if it has the prospects of leading to something positive and ultimately achieving the goal of what this is all about,” Rubio said on NBC’s “Today.”
“And that is the fact that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. They just simply can’t.”
The diplomatic push comes after Tehran already sent Washington a proposal through intermediaries. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran’s delegation in New York has full authority to revive negotiations and that Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf shipping within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports.
The official said Tehran delivered the proposal through mediators last week and called the gathering in New York a “golden opportunity” to revive diplomacy. No face-to-face meeting between Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was planned, the official said, even as Arab governments sought to bring the sides together.
Trump, meanwhile, paired his expectation of an eventual deal with a call for countries around the world to join Washington in tightening the economic pressure on Tehran.
“I call on all nations to join us in enforcing the complete economic isolation of Iran until they stop their attacks on commercial shipping, relinquish their nuclear ambitions, and cease their support of terror,” Trump said.
“The terrorist regime is behaving badly — not because they are strong and confident, but because they are weak and desperate.”
Trump’s appeal directly reinforced Operation Economic Outcast, the administration’s campaign to sever Iran’s remaining economic links around the world and force Tehran toward what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has described as complete global isolation or a return to the global economy.
The White House has called the campaign “the single greatest financial offensive ever mounted against an adversary,” saying it is designed to isolate Iran from the global financial system and punish foreign entities that continue doing business with Tehran.
That campaign is continuing to expand. Bessent said Iranian airlines will face another round of pressure beginning Wednesday, warning that governments and businesses providing them with fuel, landing services, or ticket sales could be cut off from the dollar system.
Treasury had already sanctioned dozens of targets tied to Iran’s aviation sector, warning that companies continuing to support Iranian carriers could lose access to the U.S. financial system.
Trump also pointed to the U.S.-led effort to keep commerce moving through the Strait of Hormuz despite Iranian attacks and efforts to impede shipping, saying the U.S. Navy has helped move more than one billion barrels of oil through the waterway and that oil flows have reached their highest level since the war began.
He also thanked the U.N. Security Council for condemning attacks on commercial shipping and called on other countries to maintain pressure on Tehran.
Most senior members of Iran’s delegation walked out as Trump began discussing Tehran and the possibility of further military action, leaving one lower-level diplomat in the chamber.
Trump cast the decision now before him as the latest stage in repeated efforts to reach a negotiated end to Iran’s nuclear program. He said that upon returning to office last year, he offered Tehran “full economic cooperation” in exchange for ending its nuclear program and support for terrorism — an offer Iran rejected.
“They absolutely refused. That was a big mistake,” Trump said.
He said he again urged Tehran to make a deal after Operation Midnight Hammer struck Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025, only for Iran to refuse again.
Trump said Iran subsequently continued building its missile and drone arsenal, arguing that Tehran was seeking to develop a nuclear weapon behind the protection of a growing conventional ballistic-missile force — a combination he said would make the regime far more difficult to confront in the future.
“I do not believe in letting problems fester,” Trump said. “They only become harder to solve.”
Even as diplomats in New York explored another opening, Iran’s military leadership was warning of a broader response to any renewed U.S. attack.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman Hossein Mohebi said Iran would “undoubtedly intensify” its response if Washington strikes again, warning that Tehran would move beyond retaliation to an “offensive posture.” In separate remarks, he has threatened the use of new weapons, new targets and a change in the “geography of the war.”
The competing diplomatic and military signals underscored the stakes surrounding the choice Trump presented at the U.N.: whether mounting military and economic pressure produces the deal he says he expects; or it leads to the far more destructive alternative he said remains on the table.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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