# US–Iran New York talks proceed under Trump’s threat to ‘annihilate’ Islamic Republic

*Tuesday, September 22, 2026 at 8:08 PM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-09-22T20:08:02.802Z (1h ago)
**Category**: geopolitics | **Region**: Middle East
**Importance**: 8/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/18565.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

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**Deck**: US and Iranian officials held a three‑hour meeting in New York that Trump described as very good, even as he told the UN he’s weighing an agreement with Iran against the option of annihilating the Islamic Republic. Iran and its Revolutionary Guard insist they’ll respond with full force to any US attack.

Talks and threats are moving in parallel between Washington and Tehran.

Speaking before the UN General Assembly, Donald Trump said he faces what he called a great decision on Iran: whether there will be an agreement or whether he will annihilate the Islamic Republic quickly. In remarks circulated in Spanish, he described sending Iran to hell without the possibility of surviving as a nation and without hope of recovering its greatness for generations.

At the same time, Trump confirms that US officials met the Iranian delegation for three hours in New York and says it was a very good meeting. He names Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as participants and claims there is a lot of momentum for Iran to make a deal, based on what mediators are hearing. Another meeting is expected, according to his comments.

Iranian state media report that the meeting between Witkoff and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took place after repeated requests from the American side. The Iranian broadcasting authority says Tehran used the encounter to convey its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including lifting what it calls a naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and easing sanctions.

Iran’s military is signaling its own red lines. An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesperson says that if the United States wants to attack Iran at any point, whether in Pickaxe Mountain or elsewhere, Iran will defend itself with all the power it has. He adds that the manner of response is a military matter and cannot be disclosed in advance, and that Iran will not engage in Hollywood‑style propaganda but will show its response on the ground through action.

Pressure on Iran is also mounting through sanctions that reach beyond oil. Iran’s civil aviation authority says Baghdad and Muscat airports will no longer accept flights from Iran from midnight on 22 September. Azerbaijan’s civil aviation body states that, due to US sanctions imposed on Iran’s aviation sector, flights operated by Iranian airlines to Azerbaijan have been suspended as of the same date.

Other states are weighing in on Iran’s wider regional role. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, in his UN remarks, calls on Iran to halt its nuclear and missile programs and to stop collaborating with armed groups across the Middle East.

The balance between Trump’s maximalist rhetoric and the guarded diplomacy in New York will become clearer if follow‑up meetings produce any reference to sanctions relief, nuclear constraints or regional conduct, or if instead the pattern of aviation and maritime restrictions tightens, pushing Iran and the US closer to open confrontation.