Iran Confirms US Talks via Qatari Mediators, Calls Trump UNGA Speech 'Desperation'

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, confirmed on Wednesday that Tehran has been in contact with Washington through Qatari mediators, saying the Iranian delegation had conveyed its positions and conditions to the American side "very clearly and explicitly" through that channel.

Speaking to Iran's official news agency, Baghaei said the exchange was not a new development, noting that Tehran had already set out its stance earlier in the week on issues including the Strait of Hormuz, regional security and the conditions it attaches to diplomacy.

His comments came a day after US President Donald Trump said American and Iranian officials had met on Tuesday, an unexpected engagement that unfolded even as he warned in his UN General Assembly address that he could "annihilate" the Islamic Republic if a deal to end the nearly seven-month war is not reached soon.

Baghaei rejected the tone of that speech, saying it reflected weakness rather than strength. He argued that using the General Assembly, the world's largest international forum, to make statements he described as unlawful and contrary to international law and diplomatic norms was no display of power. Threatening a country with military action, he added, was itself an admission of the current US administration's character.

Trump told reporters that his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had met Iranian officials for about three hours on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders, but offered few details on how the discussions went or what was discussed. He called it "a very good meeting" and later noted that the Iranian officials involved were "not the highest level, but it's something."

Witkoff said in a post on X that the talks were conducted through mediators who shuttled between the two teams, and expressed hope that the effort "will prove constructive and promising."

The contact follows months in which US-Iran communications had stalled after the collapse of a short-lived ceasefire brokered in June. Negotiators from the two countries met separately with Qatari and Pakistani mediators in Doha in early July for indirect talks.