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Wednesday, 23 September 2026dailybeirut.com
World
A high-stakes three-hour meeting between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi at the UN in New York signaled a new phase of tough negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
Signs of a new phase of hard bargaining emerged within the halls of the United Nations in New York, following a three-hour direct meeting between a U.S. delegation led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and White House advisor Jared Kushner, and an Iranian government delegation headed by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.
The talks revealed the current dynamics guiding President Donald Trump’s administration on the Iranian file, as the U.S. president swiftly described the meeting as highly successful and productive, pointing to another round of discussions expected in the very near future.
Analytical reports from Western research centers and media agree that the current U.S. strategy relies entirely on a dual approach oscillating between developmental incentives and threats of military annihilation to end Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
This perspective aligns with Trump’s speech before the UN General Assembly coinciding with the joint meeting, where Iran’s leadership was publicly presented with two options—accept a deal allowing Tehran to rebuild its battered economy and achieve prosperity, or face total eradication and collapse of the regime in Tehran.
This negotiation style, known in the West as brinkmanship diplomacy, aims to maximize Washington’s gains before finalizing agreement drafts, leveraging Iran’s severe financial exhaustion due to sanctions and rampant domestic inflation.
Western sources have leaked details about the U.S.-Iran meeting held during the UN General Assembly sessions. Speaking to Al-Araby News, they stated that the six-package set of commitments presented by the American envoys to the negotiating table constitutes structural prerequisites for completely reengineering the security architecture of the Middle East—not limited solely to technical aspects of the nuclear file.
They noted that on the nuclear front, Washington insists on imposing zero uranium enrichment, and is negotiating the permanent dismantling and removal of key reactors at Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordo facilities from service, preventing any future resumption of operations.
According to Western sources, this demand comes alongside a notable package of international safeguards granting the International Atomic Energy Agency full and continuous oversight over centrifuge manufacturing and operation processes to prevent any sudden technological leap—something the U.S. administration views as a necessary condition to ensure Iran never returns to a nuclear weapons path under any circumstances.
On conventional military capabilities and regional influence, Western sources indicate that U.S. conditions extend to a complete ban on Iran developing or testing ballistic missiles and drones for five consecutive years, followed by Tehran’s participation in collective regional arms agreements setting a ceiling on its missile arsenal at no more than one thousand missiles to ensure security balance with neighboring countries.
Another demand made by the U.S. delegation is the immediate and total cessation of all forms of funding, military, and logistical support provided by Tehran to its allied factions across the region—specifically Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Hamas in Gaza—a provision both Washington and Israel consider essential to ending ongoing conflicts and securing international maritime routes in the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz.
In contrast, according to Western sources, the Iranian delegation focused on avoiding economic collapse, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi presenting clear conditions linking any security progress to the immediate and full lifting of the naval and military blockade on Iranian ports, and rapid, unconditional access to all frozen Iranian funds and assets held in international banks due to prior sanctions.
The Iranian delegation offered in return a commitment to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and secure oil tanker movements and international maritime navigation within days of the implementation of U.S. financial easing and reduced military pressure along Iranian coastlines.
It should be noted that current political developments confirm that the U.S. and Iranian sides have moved beyond exchanging messages through third parties and entered a stage of direct negotiation, with global attention now focused on the nature and location of the next agreed-upon round.
Regional capitals are likely to play a pivotal role in shaping understanding memorandums ensuring safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz to rescue global energy markets, averting the inevitable military confrontation warned by the White House as a fallback option should political solutions and binding agreements fail between the two sides.
