WASHINGTON — Senior delegations from the United States and Iran held face-to-face talks for the first time in three months, and oil prices fell below $100 a barrel as stalled negotiations to end the war showed their first signs of movement.
Iran's state broadcaster IRIB reported on the 22nd that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met unexpectedly with Steve Witkoff, special envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. It was the first high-level meeting between the two sides since talks in Switzerland on June 22, which Vice President J.D. Vance attended. IRIB said the meeting took place at Washington's request and that Iran conveyed its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz to the United States without modification: an immediate lifting of the naval blockade, the immediate return of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the war on all fronts.
Trump was optimistic about reaching an agreement. Speaking to reporters in New York during a summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said Steve and Jared, referring to Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, had met with mediators in the Iran negotiations. He described the talks as lasting three hours and going very well. Trump also said additional meetings were scheduled in the very near future, adding that a deal would be to Iran's advantage as well and that momentum toward an agreement was considerable.
Other reports suggested the meeting produced little beyond the encounter itself. Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya, citing a U.S. official who attended the talks with Iran, reported that the chances of an agreement between the two countries remained limited and that major differences and obstacles persisted. It added that the United States had rejected Iran's request to lift the blockade. Iran's state news agency IRNA reported that explosions were heard near the Iranian island of Qeshm, a strategic point in the Strait of Hormuz, while the two sides were meeting.
Ahead of the talks, Trump again offered Iran both carrots and sticks in his keynote address to the high-level session of the U.N. General Assembly. He asked whether the United States would reach a deal with Iran and allow it to rebuild and become a far greater nation than ever before, or whether it would swiftly annihilate Iran so that it would never again have the chance to kill people and destroy countries. Iran's delegation walked out of the hall during Trump's speech. Iran's Supreme Joint Operations Command dismissed his remarks as nothing more than a tool of domestic propaganda.
Trump nonetheless said he believed a deal would come together right after the midterm elections, arguing that Iran was watching to see how he performs in the vote.
Oil prices fell as the United States and Iran resumed talks and as Saudi Arabia's east-west pipeline was reported to have been restored. On the ICE Futures exchange in London, Brent crude for November delivery settled 1.1% lower at $99.25 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate for October delivery closed down 1.2% at $94.59 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the first time Brent had fallen below $100 since the 8th. Bloomberg reported that the Saudi east-west pipeline had already begun operating.
Separately, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with Trump for about 35 minutes on the sidelines of the General Assembly the same day, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported. The two sides exchanged views on China ahead of a U.S.-China summit scheduled for the 24th and confirmed their intention to strengthen the alliance.
