Trump Threatens Iran as Diplomacy and Energy Crisis Grow

At the U.N. General Assembly, President Donald Trump said he has a big decision: a deal that lets Iran rebuild into a far greater country, or to "annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly." He said a deal is likely right after the midterms, with Iran waiting on those results, and added "I'm not running." A lone Iranian diplomat stayed in the hall while the delegation managed strategy outside. Iran's team included President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Witkoff and Kushner held a three-hour mediated meeting with Iranian officials. Trump called it very good and told reporters with U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham that "a settlement is going to be reached." Iran's joint military command called the speech "a tool for domestic propaganda" and warned it could "inflict even more severe, crushing and unpredictable blows." Baghaei told IRNA the threat admitted international crimes under U.N. Charter Article 2(4) and said indirect Qatar talks cover five demands, including lifting the Hormuz naval blockade and releasing frozen assets. Trump backed pausing diesel exports after AAA put the national average at a record $6.53 a gallon; Scott Bessent is studying a full or partial ban, which the American Petroleum Institute said "would wreak havoc at home and abroad." A deal-or-escalation decision is tied to the period after the midterms.