Explosions Near Hormuz As Trump Says "Had Good Talks" With Iranian Delegation

An Iranian delegation held first direct talks with senior US officials on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, hours after American President Donald Trump threatened to "annihilate" the Islamic republic if a deal isn't reached soon to end the nearly seven-month war.

The unexpected engagement between the longtime enemies came as the Iranian delegation went to New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly. The US president said after his address that his chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met for about three hours with the Iranian officials on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders.

Trump said it was "a very good meeting," and further talks were set to take place in "the near future." He later added that the Iranian officials were "not the highest level, but it's something."

Iranian state television, however, reported that foreign minister Abbas Araghchi was part of the delegation that attended the first direct talks between the US and Iran since late June.

Witkoff, meanwhile, said in a post on X that the talks were conducted through mediators who shuttled between the US and Iranian teams. He added that he was hopeful the effort "will prove constructive and promising."

The engagement comes after months of US-Iran communications languishing following the collapse of a short-lived ceasefire that was brokered in June. US and Iranian negotiators met separately with Qatari and Pakistani mediators in Doha in early July for indirect talks.

Explosions Heard In Iran

Even while the Iranian delegation was engaged in peace talks with the US counterpart, Iranian media reported that the sound of an explosion was heard near Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. State news agency IRNA reported that the cause and impact of the explosion were not immediately clear.

Qeshm Island has been the site of several reported explosions since the US-Israeli war on Iran started in February.

The nearly seven-month war has disrupted global energy prices and has shattered Iran's economy, prompting a currency crisis in the Islamic Republic.

Trump Open To Talks

Earlier Tuesday, 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.

"This is a president that will meet with anybody for the most part, because he believes that engaging with people is important if you're going to solve problems," Rubio said on NBC's "Today" show. "It doesn't mean you're going to end up agreeing with them, but it's important."

Trump also met with leaders and senior officials from Gulf Cooperation Council nations — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — as well as Jordan to discuss the way ahead with the war in Iran.

In his address to the General Assembly, Trump made the case that he's shown fortitude while other leaders have equivocated as he defended his decision to start a war with Iran.

But he also suggested that he could be at a crossroads in the conflict even as he called on the Islamic Republic to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table to find a settlement to end the conflict.

"I have a big decision to make," Trump said. "Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world. Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?"

"I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day," he added. 

The visit to the UN comes as Trump's foreign policy approach -- particularly his decision to start a war with Iran -- has become a drag on his fellow Republicans' hopes of retaining control of both chambers of Congress during the coming midterm elections.