Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the contact with the United States on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) was carried out through a Qatari mediator, and that its purpose was to convey Iran’s conditions: an end to the war on all fronts, a halt to US military actions and the naval blockade, an end to the economic war and the release of the country’s frozen assets, according to Mehr News.

According to The Guardian, the three-hour meeting between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff was mediated by Qatari diplomats and was attended for most of its duration by Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani; Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the General Assembly on Wednesday, 23 September 2026.