Will Pezeshkian Meet Trump at the U.N. General Assembly?

As President Masoud Pezeshkian heads to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, “snapback sanctions” are set to automatically reimpose all U.N. measures against Iran by September 29. Reformist and technocratic media outlets are urging Pezeshkian to seek Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s authorization for a meeting with President Donald J. Trump to forestall the sanctions. Conversely, outlets affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps caution against what they call the “mirage” of trusting the West. Yet even if Pezeshkian were, unexpectedly, to secure the regime’s backing for such an encounter, there is no assurance that Trump would be willing to meet him. And, even if both sides prove ready, does Pezeshkian have a coherent, regime-endorsed offer to present to Trump, and would that offer be enough for a president who has previously demanded “unconditional surrender” from Iran?

• September 20: Nour News Agency, which is affiliated with the Supreme National Security Council, relayed the council’s latest statement as the “snapback sanctions” approach automatic reimposition on September 28-29:
  • “Cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency will be suspended.”
• September 21: Mohammad Atrianfar, a technocratic Kargozaran Party member, was quoted in an article in reformist Entekhab News:
  • If President Masoud Pezeshkian “gets the leader’s approval regarding negotiations, he can even meet Mr. Trump in person and without intermediaries and use this opportunity for national interests.”
• September 21: Parliamentarian Ali Mottahari wrote on X:
  • If President Donald J. Trump “requests to meet Pezeshkian, despite his hypocrisy and deceitfulness, our president should accept for the sake of national interests. Trump’s personality cult and desire to take credit for any success may benefit Iran.”
• September 21: In an editorial, reformist Ham-Mihan’s editorial board wrote:
  • “We are not in a position to dictate with whom he,” a reference to Pezeshkian, “ought to negotiate, or not … but doubtless, sanctions and international tensions are the causes of all our problems. Without solving them, there is no prospect or hope for the future … If you do not have the necessary authority, you need to coordinate with the leader prior to your departure.”
• September 21: Reformist activist Hossein Nouraninejad was quoted in reformist Etemad:
  • “The Cabinet needs to be authorized to make decisions in foreign policy … Now that the president is heading to New York, he ought to have the authority, power, and necessary courage to realize national interests.”
• September 21: Ali Bigdeli, a political analyst, in an interview with reformist Shargh Daily, dismissed the likelihood of Pezeshkian meeting Trump:
  • “It is unlikely that the decision makers in Tehran will agree to such a meeting under the present circumstances … Even if such a meeting takes place, if Iran fails to present a clear and practical roadmap for the negotiations, the meeting will not end in anything but a photo opportunity without palpable achievements.”
• September 21: Javan, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, featured an editorial by Faezeh Sadat Yousefi, who wrote, without directly referencing a Trump-Pezeshkian encounter:
  • “History attests that trusting the West is a mirage.”

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