Donald Trump openly mused about Iran’s potential annihilation before the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday.
Speaking before representatives of 193 countries, Trump painted two pictures for a potential peace deal with Iran, offering the country the chance to rebuild or be completely destroyed.
“But I have a big decision to make,” Trump said. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? Maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world?”
“Or, do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly? Never giving them a chance to kill and destroy countries again?” Trump continued.
“Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” Trump asked rhetorically. “But I believe we’ll make a deal, right after the election.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is also scheduled to deliver an address to the General Assembly this week.
Trump’s incendiary remarks follow escalating rhetoric by both countries. On Sunday, Trump told Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst that his current options include “wiping Iran out, letting them rot economically, or making a deal.”
In response, a spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned Monday that “if a new aggression takes place, we will definitely change the weapons and geography of the war.”
Trump told Yingst that he would “probably” be open to meeting with Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the General Assembly, though he added that the coming weekend would be “no different from any other weekend.'”
Trump has promised for months that his son-in-law, real estate developer Jared Kushner, and real estate developer-turned U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff were on the brink of negotiating a peace deal with Tehran. That has not panned out.
Instead, the war has dragged on for seven months. Some of Trump’s closest advisers—including Vice President JD Vance and State Secretary Marco Rubio—have reportedly discussed the possibility that the conflict could extend beyond Inauguration Day 2029.