Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a meeting with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, in a development that brought direct diplomatic contact between Tehran and Washington into focus amid the continuing confrontation between the two countries. Iranian state media confirmed the meeting, stressing that the encounter took place at the insistence of the American side.
According to Iranian state media, Araghchi used the meeting to convey Tehran’s position clearly and firmly, including Iran’s conditions concerning the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials have repeatedly emphasized that the strategic waterway cannot be treated as an instrument for Washington to impose its demands on the Islamic Republic. Reuters, citing Iranian state media, also reported that Iran presented conditions for reopening the strait to the U.S. representative.
The meeting came only hours after U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a confrontational speech at the UN General Assembly in which he defended Washington’s military campaign against Iran and issued further threats against the Islamic Republic. Against that backdrop, Araghchi’s decision to meet Witkoff represented diplomacy on Iran’s terms rather than capitulation to American pressure.
Source: Al-Manar English Website