US, Iran hold mediated UNGA talks on ending war, opening Strait of Hormuz

Tehran ties diplomatic progress to lifting shipping blockades and unfreezing assets during New York negotiations.

United States President Donald Trump leaves after speaking during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters on Tuesday, September 22, 2026 [Seth Wenig/AP]

The United States and Iran have engaged in hours of indirect talks through mediators on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, but accounts differed over whether officials from the two countries met directly.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said mediators had “shuttled between” the American and Iranian delegations throughout Tuesday.

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“Today, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, we engaged in lengthy talks with the Iranian delegation through the mediators, who shuttled between the two sides throughout the day,” Witkoff said in a post on X.

“They successfully completed a round of discussions that we hope will prove constructive and promising. The mediators will continue their work.”

US President Donald Trump gave a more direct account, saying Witkoff and Jared Kushner had held a three-hour meeting with Iranian officials.

“They had a very good meeting, a very productive meeting,” Trump told reporters at the UN, adding that he believed there was “a lot of momentum” towards an agreement. Trump later said talks were continuing and that he believed a settlement would eventually be reached.

Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, said Trump’s initial comments had created confusion over who had participated. She said the White House later clarified that Trump had not attended and that Witkoff and Kushner represented the US side.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said state media had confirmed a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Witkoff after weeks without direct contact.

“This latest meeting was held at the request and insistence of the American side, and was aimed at conveying Iran’s messages and conditions, particularly around reopening the Strait of Hormuz,” Asadi reported.

Iranian state media said those conditions included lifting the US naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets and ending the war on what Tehran describes as the “resistance” fronts.

Asadi also reported that an Iranian security source told Al Jazeera there could be room for further diplomatic engagement if Washington met Iran’s conditions and commitments.

The contacts came after a senior Iranian official told the Reuters news agency that Tehran’s delegation in New York had full authority to pursue diplomacy and described the UN gathering as a “golden opportunity” for Washington to return to negotiations.

The official said Iran had submitted its latest proposal to Washington through mediators on September 16 and that details of a possible agreement to end hostilities could be discussed in New York.

The official also said Iran could reopen Hormuz within seven days if the US eased military pressure and lifted its blockade of Iranian ports.

Regional powers push for de-escalation

The indirect talks have been accompanied by a broader diplomatic effort involving the Gulf and other regional states.

Qatar said it was working with Pakistan to reduce tensions between Washington and Tehran, safeguard freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and promote regional stability.

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani also met Araghchi in New York on Tuesday.

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they discussed developments in the region, efforts to de-escalate tensions and ways of creating conditions for dialogue.

Oman has also been involved in maritime diplomacy over the waterway, having previously discussed maritime arrangements with Tehran aimed at facilitating navigation through the strait.

Trump also met leaders and senior officials from Gulf Cooperation Council states, Turkiye, Jordan, Syria and Iraq on Tuesday to discuss Iran and regional security.

Reuters reported that a Qatari proposal for a common security framework involving Iran and Gulf states was among the issues under consideration, with one regional source saying Tehran was reviewing it.

Qatar has not made the proposal public.

US President Donald Trump attends a multilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York with leaders and senior officials from Arab countries and Turkiye on September 22, 2026 [Brendan Smialowski/AFP]

Talks follow Trump’s warning

The indirect talks came hours after Trump used his UNGA address to combine the possibility of an agreement with another warning of military escalation.

Trump said he faced a “big decision” between reaching a deal that would allow Iran to rebuild and moving to “annihilate the Islamic Republic”. He also said Washington had previously offered Tehran “full economic cooperation” in return for ending its nuclear programme and what the US describes as Iranian support for terrorism.

Iran’s General Staff of the Armed Forces and Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters responded in a statement carried by Iranian media, describing Trump’s threats as evidence of “strategic weakness” and saying Iran was ready to deliver “more severe, crushing, and unpredictable blows” in response to further attacks.

US officials have repeatedly suggested that negotiations were making progress following the collapse of the June memorandum of understanding. In early August, Trump said the sides had reached parameters for a possible agreement and later described talks over Hormuz as “moving along nicely”, although significant differences remained. Earlier this month, he again said he hoped the war was “towards the end”.

Tehran continues to condition the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on the US easing military pressure and lifting its blockade of Iranian ports, while Witkoff said mediators would continue their efforts following Tuesday’s mediated exchanges.

德黑兰将外交进展与在纽约谈判期间解除航运封锁和解冻资产挂钩。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普于2026年9月22日星期二在联合国总部举行的第81届联合国大会上发表讲话后离开。[Seth Wenig/AP]

美国和伊朗在纽约联合国大会期间通过调解人进行了数小时的间接会谈，但对于两国官员是否直接会面，各方说法不一。

美国特使史蒂夫·威特科夫表示，调解员周二全天都在美伊双方代表团之间“穿梭”。

卡塔尔首相敦促海湾国家与伊朗建立安全框架（共4条，第1条）

（共4项，此为第2项）卡塔尔表示正努力重启伊朗与美国的谈判

列表 3/4：伊朗结束与美国战争的最新条件是什么？

伊朗提出的重启谈判、结束战争的四项条件之四，已通过卡塔尔送交美国。

“今天，在联合国大会期间，我们通过调解员与伊朗代表团进行了长时间的会谈，调解员全天穿梭于双方之间，”维特科夫在X网站上发帖说。

“他们成功完成了一轮磋商，我们希望这轮磋商能够取得建设性成果并带来积极影响。调解员将继续他们的工作。”

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普给出了更为直接的说法，称维特科夫和贾里德·库什纳与伊朗官员举行了三个小时的会晤。

特朗普在联合国告诉记者：“他们举行了一次非常好的会谈，一次非常富有成效的会谈。”他还补充说，他相信达成协议的“势头很强劲”。特朗普随后表示，谈判仍在继续，他相信最终会达成协议。

半岛电视台驻华盛顿记者金伯利·哈尔克特报道称，特朗普最初的言论造成了人们对参会人员身份的困惑。她表示，白宫随后澄清，特朗普本人并未出席，而维特科夫和库什纳代表美方出席。

半岛电视台驻德黑兰记者托希德·阿萨迪报道称，伊朗国家媒体证实，伊朗外交部长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇与维特科夫在数周没有直接接触后举行了会晤。

阿萨迪报道称：“此次会晤是应美方要求和坚持举行的，旨在传达伊朗的信息和条件，特别是关于重新开放霍尔木兹海峡的条件。”

伊朗国家媒体称，这些条件包括解除美国海军封锁、释放被冻结的伊朗资产以及结束德黑兰所称的“抵抗”前线的战争。

阿萨迪还报道称，一位伊朗安全部门消息人士告诉半岛电视台，如果华盛顿满足伊朗的条件和承诺，双方可能还有进一步外交接触的空间。

此前，一位伊朗高级官员告诉路透社，德黑兰驻纽约代表团拥有充分的外交权力，并将此次联合国大会描述为华盛顿重返谈判桌的“黄金机会”。

该官员表示，伊朗已于9月16日通过调解人向华盛顿提交了最新提案，有关结束敌对行动的可能协议的细节可能会在纽约进行讨论。

该官员还表示，如果美国放松军事压力并解除对伊朗港口的封锁，伊朗可以在七天内重新开放霍尔木兹港。

地区大国推动局势缓和

间接会谈的同时，海湾国家和其他地区国家也开展了更广泛的外交努力。

卡塔尔表示，它正与巴基斯坦合作，以缓解华盛顿和德黑兰之间的紧张局势，维护霍尔木兹海峡的航行自由，并促进地区稳定。

卡塔尔首相兼外交大臣谢赫·穆罕默德·本·阿卜杜勒拉赫曼·本·贾西姆·阿勒萨尼周二也在纽约会见了阿拉格奇。

卡塔尔外交部表示，双方讨论了该地区的局势发展、缓和紧张局势的努力以及创造对话条件的方法。

阿曼也参与了围绕该水道的海上外交，此前曾与德黑兰讨论过旨在便利海峡航行的海上安排。

周二，特朗普还会见了海湾合作委员会成员国、土耳其、约旦、叙利亚和伊拉克的领导人和高级官员，讨论伊朗和地区安全问题。

路透社报道称，卡塔尔提出的关于伊朗和海湾国家共同安全框架的提案是正在考虑的问题之一，一位地区消息人士称，德黑兰正在审查该提案。

卡塔尔尚未公开该提议。

2026年9月22日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在纽约出席第81届联合国大会期间与阿拉伯国家和土耳其的领导人和高级官员举行的多边会议。[Brendan Smialowski/AFP]

会谈是在特朗普发出警告之后进行的

在特朗普于联合国大会上发表讲话，暗示可能达成协议并再次警告军事升级的几个小时后，双方进行了间接会谈。

特朗普表示，他面临着一个“重大抉择”，要么达成一项允许伊朗重建的协议，要么“彻底摧毁伊斯兰共和国”。他还表示，华盛顿此前曾向德黑兰提出“全面的经济合作”，以换取其停止核计划以及美国所称的伊朗对恐怖主义的支持。

伊朗武装部队总参谋部和哈塔姆·安比亚中央司令部通过伊朗媒体发表声明回应称，特朗普的威胁是“战略软弱”的证据，并表示伊朗准备对进一步的袭击进行“更严厉、更毁灭性、更难以预料的打击”。

美国官员多次暗示，在6月份谅解备忘录破裂后，谈判正在取得进展。8月初，特朗普表示双方已就可能达成的协议达成初步共识，之后又称霍尔木兹海峡谈判“进展顺利”，尽管双方仍存在重大分歧。本月初，他再次表示希望这场战争“即将结束”。

德黑兰方面继续坚持，重新开放霍尔木兹海峡的条件是美国放松军事压力并解除对伊朗港口的封锁。与此同时，维特科夫表示，在周二的调解交流之后，调解人将继续努力。