Published 22 September 2026, 06:39 GMT
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The American and Iranian sides hinted at the possibility of reviving talks between them on the sidelines of the United Nations meetings, according to a Reuters report.
Reuters quoted an unidentified senior Iranian official as saying that there is no plan to hold a summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian, but he said that the Iranian delegation (in New York) “has full powers to revive the talks.”
The Iranian official added, according to Reuters, that the United Nations General Assembly represents “a golden opportunity for the United States to return to diplomacy.”
Reuters reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told an NBC program that the United States is open to talking with the Iranians, “particularly if there is a possibility that it will lead to something positive.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is heading to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly meetings, and is scheduled to deliver a speech on Wednesday.
Pezeshkian is considered the highest-ranking Iranian official to visit American soil since the outbreak of war in the Middle East in late February, while the United States allowed part of the Iranian delegation to enter the country while imposing restrictions on its movements, while the Iranian president’s communication team did not obtain entry visas.
Rubio said in response to Fox News' question about the possibility of a meeting between the two presidents: "He (Trump) is a businessman who comes from the world of realism and common sense. Common sense says that there is no harm in communicating with someone and talking to him," according to what was stated in the Reuters report.
But Rubio pointed out that Pezeshkian “is subject, according to the Iranian regime, to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei,” and “the Supreme Leader is a hard-line Shiite cleric,” according to the US Secretary of State.
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The G7 countries called on Iran to “stop arming and supporting” the Ansar Allah Houthi group in Yemen, warning that the recent escalation in fighting threatens regional and global energy security and international trade.
The position of the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States came in a joint statement, following a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The ministers condemned "in the strongest terms" the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, and called on the group to "immediately cease all military operations, threats and attacks on civilian ships, and return in good faith to the political process."
The statement said that the Houthi movements represent a "dangerous pattern of escalation" that threatens to exacerbate the conflict, undermine international trade, and create a state of global economic instability.
The G7 foreign ministers affirmed their continued support for the internationally recognized Yemeni government, and their commitment to Yemen’s unity, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said before leaving Tehran for the United States that his country will “firmly” defend its positions in international forums, adding that Iran will take advantage of its participation in United Nations meetings to communicate its position to the international community.
Tehran has long denied supplying the Houthis with weapons, and says that its support for the group is limited to the political aspect.
Escalation on the West Coast
On the ground, Agence France-Presse, citing the Houthi-linked Saba agency, reported that at least six people were killed and eight others were wounded in Saudi strikes that targeted the strategic city of Mokha on the Red Sea.
The strikes came after a Houthi attack targeting Riyadh on Saturday, in the first attack on the Saudi capital in years, according to Agence France-Presse, and in a new escalation of the confrontation between the two sides.
Saudi Arabia did not comment on the announced strikes in Mokha.
In the past two days alone, battles between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni forces resulted in the deaths of 154 people, according to military sources from both sides who spoke to Agence France-Presse.
Houthi sources said that 118 people were killed as a result of raids, clashes and artillery shelling, while government sources reported that 36 members of its forces were killed.
In recent weeks, the Houthis launched a rapid attack that enabled them to control the entire Yemeni coast on the Red Sea, including Mokha and Bab al-Mandab, one of the most important sea lanes for global trade.
This means that Iran and its allies now have influence over two main energy transport corridors, the Bab al-Mandab and the Strait of Hormuz, in which navigation has been severely disrupted since the outbreak of the war.
The Strait of Hormuz remains at the heart of the confrontation between Tehran and Washington, after the movement of ships through the passage through which about a fifth of the world’s supplies of hydrocarbons passed before the war was disrupted.
Commercial ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz declined to only two ships on Monday, compared to ten ships the previous day, according to preliminary shipping data. Before the outbreak of war on February 28, the strait received about 125 large commercial ships daily.
Two oil and gas tankers were also subjected to two separate attacks while crossing the strait during the past two days. Two crew members of one of the tankers were slightly injured, while the two ships were able to continue their journeys without assistance. It is not yet clear who was responsible for the two attacks.
In an indication of the possibility of opening a diplomatic path, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eased its military pressure and lifted the blockade on Iranian ports.
He added that the Iranian delegation in New York is authorized to hold talks to revive the diplomatic track with Washington.
On the other hand, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington is open to holding talks with Iranian officials on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, but he clarified that no meeting has been scheduled yet.
He said that any potential meeting must have opportunities to achieve positive results, stressing that preventing Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon remains a primary goal for Washington.
The United States accuses Iran of targeting commercial ships and imposing its approval for the passage of ships through the strait, while Washington continues to impose a counter-blockade on Iranian ports and increase economic pressure on Tehran.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned of the worsening displacement crisis as the fighting expands, saying that more than 130,000 people have fled their homes since the beginning of September. It is expected that about 100,000 additional people will be forced to flee within the next three months.
More than three thousand Yemenis fled by sea to Djibouti, while UNHCR is preparing for the possibility of the number of arrivals rising to more than ten thousand as navigation conditions improve in the coming weeks.
The war in Yemen, which began in 2014 with the Houthis taking control of the capital, Sanaa, has witnessed relative calm since 2022 before it was renewed in July.
Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has led a coalition that supports the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
Defense support for Saudi Arabia
In light of the escalation, Britain agreed to provide limited military support to Saudi Arabia, via a Royal Air Force “Voyager” refueling plane, which will supply Saudi “Typhoon” fighters with fuel by air as part of a defensive mission expected to last weeks.
British Defense Minister Luke Pollard said that the step also comes in support of British national security.
France also announced its readiness to help "secure" the energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, which was subjected to Houthi attacks, as part of what a French diplomatic source described as a "purely defensive approach."
The source stressed that French support "does not mean in any way participation in the conflict with the Houthis."
Meanwhile, the head of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, made a call to US President Donald Trump during which he requested American support in confronting the Houthis, according to a source in Al-Alimi’s office who spoke to Agence France-Presse.
The source said that Trump did not provide a pledge to provide military support, and that the call was aimed at showing solidarity with the Yemeni government.
American media also reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked Trump to help the United States confront the Houthi advance.
The New York Times said that the Saudi Crown Prince called Trump on Sunday to again urge him to help confront the Houthis, while Axios reported that Trump rejected a similar request last week.
