Iran threatens 'crushing' strikes after Trump UN speech

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump engaged in unexpected talks with Iranian officials in New York, just hours after he threatened to "annihilate" Iran if a deal could not be reached to end the nearly seven-month conflict. Trump's chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, held a meeting with Iranian officials for approximately three hours during the UN General Assembly, according to the Associated Press.

While Trump described the meeting as "very good," he did not provide many details, stating that the Iranian officials were "not the highest level, but it's something."

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, confirmed that the engagement took place through a Qatari mediator and conveyed several conditions for further talks. Iran called for an end to the war on all fronts, a halt to US "acts of aggression," the end of the naval blockade, economic warfare, and the release of Iranian assets, as reported by Reuters.

Earlier that day, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned that Trump was open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was attending the UN General Assembly in New York. Rubio stated that Trump believed engaging with counterparts was crucial to resolving problems, even if it did not necessarily lead to an agreement.

Trump also met with Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez for the first time since Maduro's capture during a reception at the UN General Assembly. Rodriguez, who was on her first US visit since taking office, is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Wednesday.

Other key developments from the day included US President Trump praising UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham as a "natural business person" following their first meeting. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung also met with Trump, discussing nuclear submarines, wartime operational control, and North Korea.

Trump signed an agreement with Denmark and Greenland aimed at strengthening Arctic security and potentially establishing more US military bases in Greenland. Additionally, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York the following day, following discussions between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy about ending the war in Ukraine.

Finally, the digital extortion group ShinyHunters claimed it had breached the FBI and stolen data on current and former employees, although the agency stated it was investigating the unauthorized activity.