US Secretary of State: Washington Ready to Meet Iranian Officials at the United Nations

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, in interviews with NBC News and Fox News, that Washington is ready to hold a meeting with Iranian officials on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, though he stressed that no meeting is currently scheduled. In the same interviews, Rubio claimed the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz has now recovered to roughly 60 to 70 percent of its level before recent tensions and is rising, and said Washington remains committed to its defense obligations toward Saudi Arabia. The remarks came days after the US president said he would welcome a possible meeting with Iran's president on the sidelines of the same assembly. Al Jazeera reported that Rubio, in the same interviews, also criticized some NATO allies for not allowing the use of their military bases for operations against Iran.