Trump threatens to ‘annihilate’ Iran, then reports talks with Iranian officials
publishers 4articles 7first reported 22 Sep, 16:16 UTCdeveloping since 22 Sep · 10 editions
President Donald Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran during an address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, while presenting Tehran with a choice between reaching an agreement with the United States and facing further military action.
“I have a big decision to make,” Trump said. He asked whether Iran would accept a deal allowing it to rebuild or whether he should “annihilate the Islamic Republic” and “drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations.” Trump defended the nearly seven-month U.S. war against Iran, demanded that Tehran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and reiterated that he would not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.
Most of Iran’s delegation walked out as Trump criticized the country’s government, according to Fortune. Trump accused Iranian officials of delaying an agreement until after the U.S. midterm elections, while saying the election would not affect his decisions about the conflict.
Later Tuesday, Trump told reporters that U.S. and Iranian officials had met following his speech. He described it as “a very good meeting” but gave few details about the participants, discussions or any resulting commitments.
The Guardian reported that Trump also claimed Iran’s theocratic regime had ruled for 51 years, although the Islamic revolution that installed the current regime happened 47 years ago, in 1979. It also said no definitive death toll had been established for his assertion that Iran had killed more than 72,000 citizens during anti-government protests this year, and that previous estimates had been much lower.
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Written from 7 articles, 3 with the publisher's own text; 4 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 25 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
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