By Levant Signal · Published 24 Sep 2026 10:18 UTC
Updated 24 Sep 2026 10:18 UTC · Sources checked 24 Sep 2026 10:18 UTC
The related news record has changed or is no longer published since this article was checked. Check the current story before relying on this account.
What contact has been reported
As of September 24, US and Iranian accounts describe messages passing through mediators at the UN General Assembly in New York. This is a diplomatic channel, not evidence that the parties have accepted each other's terms.
Axios reports that US envoy Steve Witkoff described discussions conducted through mediators. Separately, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told IRIB that a Qatari intermediary conveyed Tehran's conditions. Pars Today published that interview account on September 23.
Sources: Pars Today / IRIB Axios
Iran's stated conditions
Baghaei described demands for an end to war across all fronts, removal of the US naval blockade and economic pressure, and release of Iranian assets. These are Iran's publicly stated requirements. The broadcaster's account does not establish American acceptance or a mutually agreed order for carrying them out.
Reuters subsequently quoted an unnamed senior Iranian official saying Tehran was examining Washington's response and that substantial differences remained. Because the official was not named, readers cannot independently assess that person's authority to describe the negotiations.
The substantive gap
Reuters identifies a dispute over the Strait of Hormuz: Iran seeks control and shipping fees, while Washington rejects that approach and wants the waterway fully open to international shipping. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said an agreement would require work over time.
The same report describes President Masoud Pezeshkian rejecting submission to US pressure while maintaining support for diplomacy. That combination should be read as a negotiating position, not a concession or an announced end to hostilities.
Sources: Reuters via MarketScreener
What would demonstrate progress
Our assessment is that the next meaningful evidence would be terms acknowledged by both sides, followed by a clear account of how commitments would be implemented. A mediator carrying a message establishes communication; it does not establish agreement with the message.
The inspected sources provide no shared settlement text or verified implementation timetable. Keeping those stages separate avoids turning hopeful descriptions of talks into promises about when the conflict will end.
What remains uncertain
Sources checked September 24, 2026. Public statements establish the positions attributed to their speakers. Reuters' account of the private exchanges partly relies on an unnamed Iranian official; Pars Today is Iranian state media. No shared negotiating text or implementation record was available in these sources. The original Witkoff X post could not be inspected directly. This report includes no operational positions, movements or routes.
Source notes
- Reuters via MarketScreener
Authorised September 23 wire syndication: reporting on public statements and an interview with an unnamed senior Iranian official; not independent access to the negotiations or an agreed text.
- Pars Today / IRIB
Iranian state broadcaster's primary account of its interview with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei; evidence of Iran's stated conditions, not independent corroboration.
- Axios
September 22 original reporting carrying US envoy Steve Witkoff's description of mediated contact; the original X post could not be inspected directly.