Khamenei unbowed as Iran sees no direct talks with US

• Supreme leader says US will be forced out of Mideast after ‘painful blows’
• Washington, Tehran set to hold separate talks with mediators
• US officials say Trump would ease sanctions for ‘concrete’ Iranian nuclear steps
• Iraqi Airways resumes flights between Najaf, Iranian airports

TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed on Monday that the United States would be driven out from the region after suffering “painful blows”, as Tehran’s delegation at the UN General Assembly in New York said it had no plans for further talks with Washington.

Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the start of the Middle East war in late February, made the remarks despite attempts to revive talks aimed at ending the fighting.

“Today, having suffered painful blows at the hands of valiant fighters and the guardians of the Strait of Hormuz, they do not venture beyond the Arabian Sea,” Khamenei said according to a statement carried by state television, without explicitly mentioning the United States.

“Whenever they have braved this risk, they have only brought harm upon themselves. It will not be long before the Arabian Sea, too, would rid itself of their presence.”

In a series of posts on X, Khamenei said that the country’s “enemy” had tried to “erode the social bedrock of the Islamic system”.

“But today, people from all walks of life stand resolutely in defending their righteous positions, including their determination to safeguard the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, adding that for the last seven months, Iranian compatriots had struck fear into the enemy while fighting for Islam.

Diplomacy

Meanwhile, Iran’s delegation in New York for the UN General Assembly is not planning further talks with the United States, the state news agency IRNA reported on Monday.

“Iran’s delegation in New York has no plans for negotiations with the United States,” IRNA quoted an unnamed source close to the delegation as saying. “Iran’s views and positions were conveyed clearly and explicitly to the US side via a Qatari mediator.”

The Iranian delegation will return to Tehran on Tuesday, the news agency added.

Despite the stall in direct engagement, US President Donald Trump is willing to give Iran sanctions relief and release frozen Iranian funds in return for “concrete Iranian steps” regarding its nuclear programme, US officials told the news outlet Axios.

Trump publicly rejected Iran’s latest proposal for ending the war on Saturday but told Axios on Sunday that he expected talks to resume in the coming days.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that US officials had talked with mediators trying to end the war, adding that Washington would win “very soon”.

“We’re going to win, as far as I’m concerned, it’s going to be one way or the other,” Trump said. “It’s going to go pretty quickly.” He also said gas prices would come down once the United States wins the war. Trump did not say which mediators US officials had spoken with.

Earlier, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters that Qatari mediators were likely to hold talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New York and separately with the US side on Monday or Tuesday in a fresh push to end the war.

Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency later confirmed that Araghchi would meet the Qatari mediators, who are acting as intermediaries between Iran and the United States, on Monday morning.

The two sides will “examine the latest proposals and views regarding the current situation”, ISNA reported. The meeting is expected to focus on messages exchanged with the United States regarding the conditions set by Iran for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

However, the spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry, Esmaeil Baqaei, told IRNA that Araghchi’s stay in New York has not been extended for indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington, noting the minister would proceed according to his previously planned schedule.

Last week’s indirect discussions were held by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner with Araghchi. The talks are expected to focus on an amended version of a seven-day proposal that Iran presented last week.

As a precondition for ending its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s plan envisages a seven-day cease-fire across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where its ally Hezbollah has been battling Israeli forces.

It is also demanding the unfreezing of billions of dollars worth of Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector, and an end to the US naval blockade on Iranian ports. Tehran would then allow the reopening of the strait, and the two sides would resume talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Araghchi said on Sunday that mediators had not formally conveyed a US rejection to Tehran and that Iran was awaiting Washington’s definitive position before deciding its next steps.

“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,” Araghchi said, adding that only a negotiated solution could resolve the impasse.

Najaf-Iran flights resume

In a separate development, Iran has lodged a complaint with the United Nations over US sanctions against its aviation sector that have forced the cancellation of flights, state media reported Monday.

The United States recently imposed restrictions on the entire aviation industry in Iran and vowed to take a hard line against companies that assist it.

“To defend the legitimate rights of the aviation industry and counter illegal restrictions imposed by America, Iran has drafted and submitted a formal protest to the International Civil Aviation Organisation,” civil aviation chief Abouzar Shiroudi told IRNA.

“In cooperation with the foreign ministry, we have also filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice at The Hague,” Shiroudi added.

Amid the aviation restrictions, Iraqi Airways resumed flights between Iraq’s holy city of Najaf and Iranian airports on Monday. Iraq had halted flights to and from Iran on Friday in line with US sanctions.

The resumption comes as the Trump administration was set to grant a limited waiver to its Iran sanctions programme on Monday to allow for flights carrying Shia Muslim religious pilgrims between Iran and Iraq, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The source said the US Treasury Department waiver would allow Iraqi Airways to fly back and forth between Iran and Najaf for one month, with a more permanent waiver potentially following.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2026