The Middle East is taking center stage at the United Nations General Assembly in New York as three years of wars across the region show no signs of letting up.
The conflict between the United States and Iran, fighting in Yemen and Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon are high on speakers’ agendas.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has struggled to find an endgame to the Iran war after more than six months, said representatives of the two countries met after he issued a brash threat in his U.N. speech.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Tuesday. Full coverage is available here.
Trump says US and Iran met after warning at UN
Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials met shortly after he warned in his U.N. address that he may “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if a deal isn't reached soon to end the war.
Trump told reporters that the talks took place but gave no details beyond describing “a very good meeting.” Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump is open to meeting with Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, while he’s in New York for the General Assembly.
Iran’s joint military command responded to Trump’s threat in a statement, calling it “domestic propaganda” rather than reflecting realities on the ground. It said repeated U.S. threats showed “strategic desperation,” and warned that Iran is prepared to “inflict even more severe, crushing, and unpredictable blows” to the U.S. and Israel.
Opening speeches take aim at Israel, decry Gaza suffering
As an opening day of speeches got underway at the U.N., King Abdullah II of Jordan decried an “expansionist appetite” by Israel that he called “a regional threat.”
Abdullah equated the “destruction in Gaza and the de facto annexation of lands in the West Bank” to an “attempt to erase the Palestinian presence" and said Israel's goal was to make a Palestinian state “impossible.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called a decision to deny Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a U.S. visa to attend the General Assembly an “injustice."
Erdogan urged all UN members to recognize Palestinian statehood. He called Gaza “the world’s largest graveyard for children” and the “most shameful concentration camp of our time.”
Iran's president strikes defiant note as he heads to General Assembly
Pezeshkian struck a defiant note as he boarded a plane from Tehran to New York for the General Assembly, accusing the U.S. of doing “everything they can to block every possible route in order to force our nation and our people to surrender, because they were unable to do that through military means.”
Pezeshkian added that Iran is wary of another round of talks, having twice been attacked by the U.S. and Israel during active negotiations.
Gulf states call for Iran to end attacks
The regional Gulf Cooperation Council called for Iran and its allied groups to cease attacks on Arab Gulf states and allow free transit through two crucial maritime checkpoints.
Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi, the council’s head, said disruptions to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have rattled oil markets and supply chains worldwide, triggering “worldwide fallout.” Iran has said it attacked U.S. bases in the region as part of its response to U.S.-Israeli strikes.
AlBudaiwi made the comments in a meeting with Swiss officials on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
Trump is expected to meet representatives from the council on Tuesday in New York.
Iranian military official says Bab el-Mandeb won't return to normal
Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, a senior military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, said Tuesday that the situation in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would not return to its previous normal amid the conflict involving Yemen’s Houthi rebels and shipping in the Red Sea.
Safavi made the remarks in an interview with Iran’s state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.
“The Americans not only couldn’t achieve their objective regarding the Strait of Hormuz, but they now face a new problem called the Bab el-Mandeb Strait,” Safavi said.
He said reopening the Strait of Hormuz was contingent on the United States accepting Iran’s conditions, adding that it would not be reopened through U.S. military pressure.
Netanyahu is not expected to meet with Trump while in New York
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who launched the Iran war along with the U.S. on Feb. 28, is also heading to New York for a brief trip, but is not expected to meet with Trump.
Netanyahu will be in New York for less than 24 hours, during which time Trump is scheduled to be in Washington for a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Netanyahu is up for reelection at the end of October. In the past, he has boasted of his close ties with Trump, but that relationship appears to be deteriorating as the war drags on. A meeting with Trump could have bolstered Netanyahu’s image ahead of the vote.
Netanyahu’s speech at the U.N. on Thursday is expected to garner protests, both inside and outside of the U.N.
Palestinians voice frustration, urge action
As world leaders gathered at the U.N., some Palestinians in Gaza voiced frustration.
“The General Assembly, the United Nations, those have all our respect, but they should stop the bombing,” said Rami Al Bowboa, a displaced resident of Gaza City. “At least let us bring in lighters; let us have food, let us have water.”
Ahmed Lubad, displaced from northern Gaza, said he expected the assembly “to be serious about our issue, to set clear boundaries, and to pressure Israel.”
“We are exhausted, tired, and have lost everything,” Lubad said.
Another displaced resident, Imad Dawas, said UN meetings often produced “conditions, initiatives, and proposals, but not meaningful” action.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
