US President Donald Trump has said that he hoped an end to the war against Iran was near and a media report separately said he is expected to meet Gulf leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to discuss the conflict.
His comments come with the Iran war in its seventh month and with no immediate end in sight.
Axios reported Trump’s meeting with Gulf leaders next week in New York is expected to focus on US plans for a post-war strategy.
Scoop: Trump to hold Iran talks with Gulf leaders next week https://t.co/j6aRB4Gv5e
— Axios (@axios) September 16, 2026
"Well hopefully we're toward the end of the war."
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 16, 2026
President Trump says Iran wants to reach an agreement as he discusses efforts to end the conflict.
"They want to make a deal. We'll see how that works out." pic.twitter.com/GoyXcc3Y35
‘Iran has no military nuclear programme’
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has said that the country has “no ‘military’ nuclear programme — no matter how often the Israeli fabricated ‘big lie’ is repeated by Israeli apologists”.
In a post on X, he criticised the German chancellor’s statement on the war in Iran and its nuclear programme as a “knowingly distorted narrative”.
“It was USrael (United States and Israel) — not Iran — that launched a war of aggression, and Germany failed to show even the minimum moral courage required to deplore that.
“Those Berlin labels ‘proxies’ are independent actors with their own clear causes and calculations. They are fighting for self-determination, freedom, and dignity against occupation, aggression and subjugation.
“Our region should not have to pay the price for Germany’s guilt complex or its habit of appeasement vis-a-vis bullies,” he said.
Iran oil facilities being restored
Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad says that the reconstruction of oil industry facilities damaged during the US-Israeli-imposed war was progressing well, with part of the lost capacity expected to return by the end of the current calendar year to late March.
Paknejad said on Wednesday that the remaining damaged capacity was expected to become available during the first half of the following Iranian year.
He said reconstruction work at four gas refineries and liquid fuel storage and loading facilities in Tehran that were hit and damaged during the war was progressing at a satisfactory pace.
A very large number of workers are involved in the reconstruction effort, Paknejad said, adding that progress was sufficiently rapid to be monitored on a weekly basis.