US President Donald Trump said the war with Iran could end “very soon,” either through a new American strike or a negotiated agreement, as signs of a deepening diplomatic breakdown emerged from talks in New York.
Trump said Washington was weighing its next move after months of conflict with Tehran, leaving open both military escalation and diplomacy.
“We may strike Iran and we may reach a deal,” Trump said, according to Reuters. “We have to make the decision, and the war will end very soon one way or another.”
The comments came as US-Iran negotiations showed fresh signs of strain.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the Iranian delegation attending the United Nations General Assembly to leave the United States after diplomatic talks reached a stalemate, Axios reported, citing US officials.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was among those covered by the directive.
Although the Iranian delegation had already been expected to leave New York soon, Axios described Rubio’s move as an unusually sharp diplomatic rebuke following the failure of negotiations to produce a breakthrough.
Qatar has been mediating between Washington and Tehran in an effort to halt the seven-month conflict, but talks in New York produced little progress as both sides remained divided over the sequencing and terms of a possible agreement.
Despite the apparent breakdown, Iran said on Wednesday that it had received an official US response to its latest proposal through Qatari mediators.
Reuters reported that the proposal centres on measures aimed at restoring navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and easing the US blockade and sanctions on Iran, with Washington and Tehran still disagreeing over which side should take the first steps.
Trump has repeatedly combined threats of renewed military action with assertions that a negotiated settlement remains possible.
On September 28, he said the United States would win the war “very soon” and that the conflict would be resolved “one way or the other.”
The latest comments go further by explicitly presenting a renewed strike and a diplomatic agreement as the two options now under consideration.
The war has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and pushed energy prices sharply higher, while regional governments including Qatar have intensified diplomatic efforts to prevent another major escalation.
