Trump tells UN he has 'big decision to make' in US-Iran war

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Tuesday during a speech at the General Assembly that “the fighting must stop.”  

“Across the Middle East, conflicts are cascading. So-called ceasefires have amounted to little more than lesser fires, with civilians continuing to pay the price,” he said. 

“Enough is enough. I appeal to the leaders in this chamber to maximize this high-level week for de-escalation and dialog,” Guterres continued. 

The U.N.’s leader also called on world leaders to “send a clear message” that “humanitarian aid must flow and navigational rights and freedoms must be fully restored in accordance with international law.” 

President Donald Trump said Tuesday at U.N. headquarters that the Iranian regime made a “big mistake” by not taking him up on his offer of "full economic cooperation in exchange for ending their nuclear program and support for terror.” 

“Upon taking office last year, I immediately opened negotiations,” the president said, “but they refused.” 

“They absolutely refused. That was a big mistake. Then, in Operation Midnight Hammer, the U.S. military obliterated their nuclear program beneath mountains of rubble. And again, I urged Iran to make a deal. And again, they refused,” Trump continued. 

“The regime continued building a vast missile and drone stockpile that threatened the security of every American service member in the region and everyone else in the region. They also made a missile that was capable of hitting Europe, and they were very proud of it. I hope the Europeans realize that Iran's goal was to complete their mad dash to a nuclear bomb from behind this conventional ballistic missile shield,” Trump told world leaders. 

“If they had succeeded, that wicked regime would have been free to spread terror and death forever, knowing that any attempt to stop them would face an arsenal of nuclear annihilation,” he said.

President Donald Trump told the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday that he has a “big decision” to make when it comes to the war against Iran. 

“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?” Trump said.  

“Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we'll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn't make sense for them not to,” Trump continued. “They're waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don't realize is that I'm not running. I did that already and won in a landslide.” 

“We won in a giant landslide, and I'll be here for two and a half years. The Republican Party is running and I'll be helping them, but I am not running,” Trump added. “I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election when it comes to Iran. It doesn't even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.” 

President Donald Trump told world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that Iran, the “number one sponsor of terror,” is no longer the bully of the Middle East. 

"As president of the most extraordinary nation in history, I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day. I do not believe in letting problems fester. They only become harder to solve. So while others have talked, I have acted. While others have spoken of peace, I have made peace. While others have ignored threats, I have confronted them. While others have talked of courage, America has shown it. While others have promised strength, I have used it to make America the most powerful country in the world,” Trump said. “Working with many nations in this room, we are solving decades of intractable challenges and we are settling years of unfinished business. And we’re doing it well.” 

"There is no better example of a danger that was allowed to gather strength at the world's peril than the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran. For 51 years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled by bloodshed and mass murder, spreading death and carnage and chaos across the entire Middle East and beyond. They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more,” he added. “From the first day I entered the political arena, I have been unwavering. I will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” 

The Middle East will take center stage when world leaders open the U.N. General Assembly's annual debate Tuesday, with some of Washington's most important regional partners arriving in New York facing a question: What will the region look like after months of war with Iran, renewed Houthi attacks and an uncertain future for Gaza?

Leaders from Jordan, Türkiye, Qatar and Egypt are expected to address the Assembly during the annual General Debate, which begins Sept. 22. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also scheduled to attend.

President Donald Trump is expected to meet Gulf leaders on the sidelines of UNGA to discuss the Iran conflict and the region's future. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz told Fox News Digital that the administration wants to hear directly from Gulf leaders about their concerns, describing the meeting as an important opportunity for diplomacy.

Rich Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that the Iran war has fundamentally altered the region's strategic landscape, creating opportunities for new energy partnerships and closer cooperation between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

"The opportunity for regional integration and normalization works alongside energy infrastructure meeting the moment, the crisis of needing bypasses for Hormuz," Goldberg said.

President Donald Trump has arrived Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly, where he will address world leaders about the U.S.-Iran war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is being provided a security detail by the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service as he visits United Nations headquarters in New York City, a report said. 

The Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations made the request in a letter to the State Department last week, according to Axios.  

On Friday, the State Department, after reviewing alleged threats posed to Araghchi, reportedly approved the matter. 

Araghchi arrived on U.S. soil on Monday. 

A White House official told Fox News ahead of President Donald Trump’s speech at the U.N. General Assembly this morning that he will lay out a clear case of how he is using American power to tackle longstanding challenges and reshape the world to the benefit of the U.S. 

The official said while others have talked, Trump has acted on challenges such as the Iranian nuclear threat and cartel violence. 

Trump will also highlight his administration's vision for ending decades of violence, foreign interference and instability in the Western Hemisphere, according to the official. 

The president will speak about U.S. efforts to prevent the U.N. and other globalist institutions from impeding on American sovereignty or imposing on a radical, left-wing agenda on Americans, the official added. 

Fox News’ Pat Ward contributed to this post. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday on “Fox & Friends” that the Trump administration will support Saudi Arabia as it faces attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. 

“That's a dangerous conflict, obviously, because what it's done is, it's not just the Houthis, Kataib Hezbollah out of Iraq, which is an Iranian proxy, also fired into Saudi Arabia, and it has shut down their main pipeline’,” Rubio said. “And that pipeline needs to get restarted. We have a defense agreement with Saudi Arabia. We intend to live up to our commitments on it.” 

"We are working to see if this thing can be fixed,” Rubio also said about Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline. “But ultimately, if it comes down to it, the United States will always stand with Saudi Arabia and support them because we have an agreement with them to do so.” 

“That said, that is a very dangerous and complex conflict that pre-exists. You know, obviously our history, we have a history with the Houthis as well, and that's something we don't want to see impacted either, the Red Sea and the impact on the Saudi economy,” Rubio also said. “But, you know, I can't discuss in this setting or any public setting, all of the conversations that are ongoing with Saudi Arabia. But suffice it to say that we will live up to our commitments to them and have been." 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday that he believes President Donald Trump is open to meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City. 

"I think what you'll find from the first term, this president and now is that he's willing to talk and meet with anybody,” Rubio said. 

“Now, whether something productive will come out of it, it's harder to tell because the ultimate decision maker in Iran is the supreme leader, and the supreme leader is a radical Shia cleric,” Rubio added. “And we need to remember that when we talk, we're not just talking about politicians here, we're talking about people who are theologically driven to make the decisions that they make.” 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday ahead of President Donald Trump’s speech at the U.N. General Assembly is that the “central issue” is Iran is “run by lunatic clerics.” 

“There's always been concern in the Gulf states about Iran. The reason why we have military bases in the Gulf states is because they're worried about Iran. That's why we're there. So Iran sponsors terrorist groups that operate out of Iraq, that have operated out of Syria. They help Hezbollah in Lebanon. They're behind the Houthis in Yemen that are attacking Saudi Arabia, and they want a nuclear weapon. That's of concern, not just to the Gulf states, but should be of concern to the world,” Rubio said. 

“And I think it's really important to remind everybody, at the end of the day, at the core of all this, you talk about oil, we talk about the Straits of Hormuz. The central issue here is Iran is run by lunatic clerics, by lunatic clerics that have a radical view of their religion, you know, very radical view and an apocalyptic view of their religion. These people can never have nuclear weapons,” he added.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said all Iranian airlines will be “shut down” starting Wednesday during the Operation Economic Outcast pressure campaign against the regime in Tehran. 

“And how do we do that? That if they land, you cannot provide them with fuel. You cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” Bessent told CNBC in an interview. 

Earlier this month, the Treasury Department already slammed Iran by sanctioning 36 targets linked to its aviation sector, which officials said the regime uses to "move weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo."   

The Treasury Department said Iran’s commercial airlines have "long supported the Iranian regime’s destabilizing activities, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps using ostensibly private airlines, such as Mahan Air, for the procurement and transport of weapons and the ferrying of personnel."   

A digital traffic sign on Interstate 405 near Westwood’s Persian Square in Los Angeles was hacked to show a website targeting Iranian dissidents, the New York Post reported.

The site, goorkan.info, claims to expose and punish “traitors to the homeland” and has been linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The outlet reported that Iranian activist Emel Karsaz notified the FBI after discovering that her name, photograph and personal information had been shared on the website.

Caltrans confirmed the unauthorized access. The agency said an internal investigation into the system’s access logs is underway.

Yesterday's Fox News Digital live blog offers additional coverage of the conflict with Iran.

President Donald Trump will speak about the U.S.-Iran war this morning at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz also saying to expect “a healthy dose of continuing to call out the ridiculous.” 

“The Human Rights Council, which is a separate part of the UN in Geneva, but still part of it… years ago had a George Floyd commission, and then just released a report … saying that US service members may have allegedly engaged in war crimes in Iran,”  Waltz told the New York Post. 

“We have to remind people that, even when we have civilian casualties — and I’m not saying that’s the case, I think it’s still under investigation by the Pentagon — but even when we have them, it’s unintentional and it’s incidental as part of a conflict, as opposed to the Iranian regime machine-gunning 40,000 of its own people in the span of three or four days,” he reportedly added. 

The General Debate of the 81st U.N. General Assembly begins Tuesday, Sept. 22, under the theme, "Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all." 

Trump will return to the General Assembly on Tuesday with the US-Iran war entering its seventh month, while fighting involving the Iran-backed Houthis has placed new pressure on shipping through the Red Sea and raised fresh concerns among Gulf states about regional security. 

Reuters reported Sept. 18 that European and Asian allies have largely resisted U.S. calls to become more directly involved in the Iran conflict and that the prolonged war has strained Washington’s relationships with some partners. 

Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter contributed to this post.