New York, USA – U.S. President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that he had to choose whether to “annihilate” Iran if it fails to make a deal to end the war in West Asia. “I have a big decision to make—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? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” Trump said, while adding that he believed an agreement was possible after U.S. midterm elections in November.
As Trump began to describe the last six months of on-and-off military strikes against Iran, the delegation of Iranians at the UN General Assembly began to walk out, with only one person remaining seated. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are in New York for the annual meeting but didn’t arrive in the General Assembly hall for Trump’s speech. Instead, lower-level staff and delegates were seated when he began to speak, only to leave 10 minutes into his speech. Trump reiterated that he thought an agreement was possible before the midterms—in which his Republican party faces losing control of Congress at least partly due to high fuel prices caused by the war. “I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election because it doesn’t make sense for them not to,” he said. “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.”
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In his address, Trump also announced that the United States will build two major military bases in Greenland under a deal with Denmark to be signed on Tuesday. “We will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations. We’ll be building two very major military bases,” he said. He also criticised Cuba as a failed state, saying “freedom will be coming to Cuba,” and called for all nations that are part of the International Criminal Court to quit the body, calling it “out of control.” “I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution immediately,” he added. Trump is also expected to hold side meetings with Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Japanese premier Sanae Takaichi, and Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez.
