U.S. President Donald Trump (DHA Photo)
U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated that he would be willing to meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in New York this week, as Washington considers its next military steps and Tehran sets out conditions for bringing the nearly seven-month-old war to an end.
Asked by Fox News if he would hold talks with Pezeshkian while attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Trump said he would “probably be open” to such a meeting.
The two leaders could have an opportunity to meet during the U.N. General Assembly’s high-level week in New York, which runs from Sept. 22 to 28.
Pezeshkian is expected to travel to New York after the Trump administration approved the entry of an Iranian delegation, including the president and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, to attend the gathering.
Trump also warned that he has entered a critical decision phase on the ongoing Iran war, cautioning that major developments will occur if Tehran fails to change its conduct.
“My question is if and when do I blow the entire nation up? They had better behave,” Trump told Fox News, detailing his approach to the war.
The U.S. president described his current options as wiping the country out, allowing it to “rot” economically, or negotiating a deal, adding that “very big things are going to be happening in the not-so-distant future.”
His remarks came as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sept. 21 warned they would attack new targets and deploy new weapons if the U.S. launches further attacks on the country.
In a statement, a spokesman of the ideological arm of Iran’s military, said “there will certainly be significant changes in our defense and our counteroffensive” in the event of a new U.S. attack.
“We will introduce new weapons with new capabilities into the battlefield, and the world will be surprised,” he said.
“Our targets will not necessarily be the same as before either. We have new targets that have not yet been attacked.”
The army also said they were prepared for a “prolonged war”.
Meanwhile, Iranian lawmakers have submitted a bill calling for the country to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), seeking to have the measure considered under a triple-urgency procedure.
Speaking during an open parliamentary session on Sept. 20, lawmaker Hossein-Ali Haji Deligani said the bill was submitted to the parliament’s Presiding Board and was ready to be brought before the full chamber. It would require approval from Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf before lawmakers could begin debating the measure.
