Iran Restates Terms for Ending War as Netanyahu Rebukes Macron at UN
Iran says it maintained its conditions in indirect talks with the U.S. via Qatari mediators, as Netanyahu rejected Macron's West Bank remarks at the UN General Assembly.
Iran has said its position in indirect negotiations with the United States remains unchanged, insisting that Washington lift its blockade on Iranian ports and unfreeze Iranian assets before any end to the war, now in its eighth month.
A Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, told reporters on Wednesday that the talks were held through Qatari mediators on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. He described Iran's demands as nothing new. The meeting was unscheduled and marked the first indirect contact between U.S. and Iranian officials since a ceasefire collapsed in June.
The talks unfolded as sporadic attacks continued in the Strait of Hormuz, where commercial shipping traffic remains below levels seen before the war.
Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office sharply criticised French President Emmanuel Macron over comments he made at the General Assembly about Hamas and the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu's office called the remarks a grotesque absurdity.
Macron condemned the situation in Gaza and criticised rising Israeli settler violence in the West Bank, arguing that Israel could not invoke Hamas to justify its actions there. In his French-language remarks, he used wording that could suggest Hamas had never governed or operated in the territory. A French diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Macron meant that Hamas had never governed the West Bank. No official UN translation has been released.
Hamas has long held support in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and has claimed responsibility for attacks there, though it has never governed the semiautonomous territory. Israel has intensified military operations in the West Bank during the Gaza war, launching an offensive in early 2025 targeting refugee camps it described as centres of Palestinian militancy.
The dispute adds to friction that has grown since France recognised a Palestinian state in September 2025. Earlier this month, France joined Canada and several European countries in announcing measures to restrict trade from Israeli settlements. Paris has long opposed the settlements as contrary to international law, and on Sunday issued a statement firmly condemning a terrorist attack that killed a French-Israeli over the weekend.