President Donald Trump will use his upcoming United Nations General Assembly address to argue that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon as Washington weighs further military action, regional powers pursue diplomacy and pressure grows around critical Middle East energy and shipping routes.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
President Donald Trump will make preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon a central focus of his address to the United Nations General Assembly next week as the administration weighs its next steps in the months-long conflict and parallel diplomatic efforts intensify across the Middle East and Asia.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told reporters Friday that Trump will emphasize the Iranian nuclear issue when he addresses world leaders Tuesday, Sept. 22, in New York. The president is also expected to discuss his administration’s 20-point Gaza peace plan and other international issues.
Trump’s schedule includes a multilateral meeting with leaders from the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman — as Washington evaluates the future of its military campaign against Iran. Waltz said Trump will also meet British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during the U.N. gathering.
The president signaled Friday that he believes an end to the conflict could be approaching while maintaining that preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon remains the central objective.
“People don’t want to have Iran have a nuclear weapon, and you know what they want. And the war is going to end soon. And when it ends, your gas prices are going to drop to a level that they were before, maybe even lower,” Trump said during an Oval Office event.
Trump also defended the military campaign by pointing to previous U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
“I had no choice,” Trump said. “I said to my people, I’m going to have to do an excursion down to Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran, because they’re going to have a nuclear if we don’t hit them with a B-2 bombers, they right now would have a nuclear weapon.”
Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes. International scrutiny has nevertheless continued, with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors voting this month to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council amid continued disputes over its nuclear activities.
Attention has increasingly focused on Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried complex near the damaged Natanz nuclear facility.
Retired Gen. Joseph Votel, a former commander of U.S. Central Command, said Friday that activity observed at the site could indicate that Tehran is preparing infrastructure for future nuclear work.
“Well, this is this is further evidence here that that Iran is trying to, if not, you know, rebuild the program right now, at least prepare the facilities so they can continue to pursue this approach well into the future,” Votel said.
Satellite analysis has documented extensive construction and reinforcement at Pickaxe Mountain, although outside analysts have said the available imagery cannot establish that uranium enrichment is taking place there. A Center for Strategic and International Studies assessment published Sept. 9 found an increase in construction activity but said the evidence did not substantiate or refute claims that Iran had transferred centrifuges into the underground complex.
More recent imagery analyzed by the Institute for Science and International Security showed additional soil placed over tunnel entrances and earthen roadblocks limiting access. The institute assessed that the defensive measures could protect valuable equipment or materials, while noting that blocked entrances suggested the facility was not being used for regular operations at the time the images were taken.
Trump has publicly warned Tehran about the activity.
“We notice there’s a little activity at Pickaxe,” Trump said earlier this month. “I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard.”
Even as the administration keeps additional military action under consideration, Trump said Friday that Iran is seeking an agreement with Washington.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said when asked about the possibility of a further escalation.
He said Tehran wants an agreement because it is “losing in every way” economically and militarily.
“If the deal’s not a correct deal, then I wouldn’t even think about it,” Trump said. “But right now, they want to make a deal because they’re losing in every way.”
Diplomatic activity has accelerated ahead of the General Assembly.
China has urged Washington and Tehran to restart negotiations, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi telling Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during talks in Beijing on Wednesday that China is prepared to play a “constructive role” in settling international disputes.
Wang called on the United States and Iran to exercise restraint, return to their earlier diplomatic framework, rebuild a negotiating mechanism and conduct substantive consultations over unresolved issues. China also called for steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and protect international energy transportation.
Araghchi characterized the discussions in Beijing as consequential for the region.
“Today’s decisions will decide future strategic balance in the region, with immeasurable knock-on effects,” Araghchi said.
The China discussions come immediately before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to Washington, where he is expected to meet Trump on Sept. 24. Beijing has not publicly announced that it will formally mediate between Washington and Tehran, but Iranian officials and media have increasingly discussed China as a possible diplomatic bridge.
Pakistan, which has already played a diplomatic role between Iran and the United States during the conflict, is pursuing its own contacts.
Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar spoke Saturday with Araghchi about regional developments and emphasized the economic consequences of disruptions to energy supplies and shipping.
Dar “stressed the importance of uninterrupted energy supplies and the safe and expeditious passage of ships, particularly given their implications for developing countries and global supply chains.”
He also said “dialogue and diplomacy remain the only viable means to ensure peace and stability in the region.” Dar and Araghchi agreed to meet in New York on the sidelines of the 81st U.N. General Assembly.
Those diplomatic efforts are unfolding while U.S. forces continue applying military and economic pressure against Iran.
U.S. Central Command said Friday that American forces enforcing the blockade of Iranian ports had redirected 105 commercial vessels as of Sept. 18. CENTCOM said the USS Boxer and its embarked Marine Expeditionary Unit continued operations in the Arabian Sea as part of the enforcement effort.
The blockade began earlier in the conflict and has become an important component of U.S. efforts to restrict Iranian commerce. CENTCOM announced in May that it had already redirected 100 commercial vessels during an earlier phase of the operation.
Energy supplies elsewhere in the region are also facing pressure.
Saudi Aramco informed at least two European refining customers that they would receive no Saudi crude oil in October following an attack that damaged the kingdom’s East-West pipeline. The attack damaged pumping stations and interrupted operations serving the Red Sea export route at Yanbu, according to reporting on the disruption.
The pipeline has become particularly important because it allows Saudi oil to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia has sought alternative export routes, including ship-to-ship transfers near Oman, while repairing the damaged infrastructure.
The regional conflict has also spread deeper into Yemen and Saudi Arabia as fighting involving the Iran-aligned Houthis intensifies around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The U.N. has warned that the escalating fighting threatens international maritime commerce, energy supplies and regional stability. U.N. officials told the Security Council this week that the Houthi advance along Yemen’s west coast has intensified concerns over Bab el-Mandeb while disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz continue to affect another critical maritime corridor.
Security Council members have called for greater cooperation to prevent the Houthis from obtaining weapons, financing, military training and other support that could sustain attacks against shipping and neighboring countries. The council has repeatedly addressed concerns that the expanding conflict threatens maritime security and international trade.
Saudi authorities issued emergency alerts late Friday and early Saturday amid concerns about an aerial threat to Riyadh and other areas. The warnings were later lifted, and Saudi authorities did not immediately identify what caused the explosions reported in the area. Reuters reported that flames and a large plume of black smoke could be seen near King Khalid International Airport.
No casualties were immediately reported in connection with the Riyadh incident.
The tensions come as Iran continues taking domestic security measures connected to its conflict with Israel.
Iranian authorities executed Hossein Pedaran after he was convicted of providing Israel’s Mossad intelligence service with information concerning missile sites in Isfahan province during the 2025 Iran-Israel conflict, according to Iran’s judiciary. Mizan, the judiciary’s news agency, said Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence before Pedaran was hanged.
The conflict referenced by Iranian authorities was Operation Rising Lion, the 12-day Iran-Israel war fought from June 13 through June 24, 2025, during which Israel struck Iranian nuclear and military facilities and Iran responded with missile and drone attacks. U.S. forces subsequently struck Iran’s Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities during Operation Midnight Hammer.
Those unresolved nuclear questions will now follow Trump to the General Assembly.
The administration enters the meetings simultaneously arguing that its military actions have damaged Iran’s nuclear capabilities, warning Tehran against rebuilding sensitive facilities and maintaining that a negotiated agreement is still possible.
Trump has said Operation Epic Fury will “end soon” and has linked an end to hostilities with lower energy prices. His administration’s immediate diplomatic focus at the United Nations, however, will center on the underlying issue that prompted the military campaign: ensuring that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon.
With Trump scheduled to address the General Assembly and then meet Gulf leaders Tuesday, the U.N. gathering will put the competing paths of military pressure and diplomacy before many of the governments most directly affected by the conflict.
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