Witkoff, Kushner meet mediators as Iran sets demands for reopening Hormuz

Jerusalem Post/Middle East/Iran NewsTalks over the Strait of Hormuz advanced as Iran submitted reopening terms and Witkoff and Kushner met mediators pursuing an agreement.Follow us on Google (L-R) U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and United States Special Envoy for Peace Jared Kushner, 81st session of the UNGA September 22, 2026.(photo credit: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES)SEPTEMBER 22, 2026 22:58US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with mediators to discuss a possible deal to end the Iran conflict.Trump told reporters at the United Nations that US officials had had a "very good" three-hour meeting on Tuesday with the Iranian delegation.He said that Washington and Tehran were moving toward a settlement, while a senior Iranian official said Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within days if the US eased military pressure and lifted its blockade on Iranian ports."We are completely isolating Iran financially and simply applying pressure, because we hope they will do the right thing quickly-before it’s too late," Trump said. "You know, there will come a point when it’s too late, and we will no longer have the option of allowing them to survive as a nation."Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in a meeting during which Iran's conditions to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz were conveyed to the US, according to Iran's state media.Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian (C) walks on his way to a bilateral meeting with France's President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on September 24, 2025. (credit: Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images)Iran sets Hormuz reopening conditions amid renewed US talksConditions for reopening the strait include immediate lifting of the naval blockade, immediate release of frozen Iranian assets and end of war across all 'resistance' fronts, state media added.Trump's remarks came just hours after he repeated a threat at the UN General Assembly to annihilate Iran if it failed to strike a deal.Speaking after a meeting with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham at the United Nations in New York, Trump said: "They want to talk to us. They have been talking to us, even today they've been talking to us, and the relationship is developing."But we can't let them - and they understand that - we can't let them have a nuclear weapon."Follow us on Google