Trump says he's speaking with Tehran directly; Iran won't confirm. Will U.S. and Iranian officials hold face-to-face talks by Sept 26?
Community missed this one — 94% predicted NO.
U.S. and Iranian officials held roughly three hours of direct talks in New York on September 22, 2026, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. President Trump said envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with an Iranian delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, calling the session "very good" and "productive" while noting the Iranian officials present were "not the highest level."
The meeting came the same day Trump told the U.N. General Assembly the U.S. could "annihilate" Iran if no deal is reached to end the roughly seven-month U.S.-Israel war on Iran, even as he said he expected an agreement after the midterm elections. No breakthrough or joint statement followed, and Iran did not confirm the meeting with the same detail as the U.S. side.
The community had priced face-to-face talks by September 26 at just 6%, reflecting skepticism that direct engagement would occur amid unresolved fighting and Trump's public threats. The quiet, UNGA-sidelines meeting defied that expectation, illustrating a pattern in the standoff this year: public threats and diplomatic contact occurring in parallel without a ceasefire.