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US 'Must Choose' Whether to End War: Iran President to Fox News

Pezeshkian took a defiant stand at the UN, for which he travelled to the United States, telling the world that Iran would not 'bend at the knee' to Washington. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP/File
Pezeshkian took a defiant stand at the UN, for which he travelled to the United States, telling the world that Iran would not 'bend at the knee' to Washington. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP/File
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US 'Must Choose' Whether to End War: Iran President to Fox News

Pezeshkian took a defiant stand at the UN, for which he travelled to the United States, telling the world that Iran would not 'bend at the knee' to Washington. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP/File
Pezeshkian took a defiant stand at the UN, for which he travelled to the United States, telling the world that Iran would not 'bend at the knee' to Washington. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP/File

It is for the United States to choose whether to end its war in Iran as Tehran does not wish to continue fighting, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Fox News in an interview aired Thursday.

Pezeshkian took a defiant stand at the UN Wednesday, for which he travelled to New York, telling the world that Iran would not "bend at the knee" to Washington -- even as US President Donald Trump acknowledged ongoing US-Iran talks.

"When we can resolve issues through dialogue, we shouldn't resort to killing one another. But with the instigations conducted by Israel, they have imposed this war on us," he said in remarks translated by the broadcaster.

"But we do not wish to continue. It's America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not."

Pezeshkian insisted Iran was ready to strike a deal with Trump to end the conflict.

"Why is it that within two weeks after the signing of an agreement, they chose to blow it up?" he said of the collapse of a shaky ceasefire.

"If the current American government, within international legal frameworks, wishes to reach an agreement, fine. If not, before the (US midterm) elections or after the elections, what difference does it make for us?"

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took part in a meeting with Trump's roving envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Their talks did not immediately yield a breakthrough.

- Houthi backers? -

As violence raged between Yemen's Houthi militant movement -- widely seen to be Iran-backed -- and the Yemeni government forces, Pezeshkian insisted the Houthis do not take direction from Tehran's government.

Washington and the Yemeni government, accuse Iran of backing the Houthi militant movement.

"The Houthis are responsible for their own actions. They don't take directions from us as those who are resisting in the region, based on the situations that have been imposed on them," Pezeshkian said, according to the broadcaster's translation of his remarks.

"We have contacts with them. There is no systematic relationship," he added.

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World

Zelensky Says Trump Made 'Final Decision' to Give Ukraine Patriot License

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the 81st session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly at UN Headquarters on September 23, 2026 in New York City. Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images/AFP
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the 81st session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly at UN Headquarters on September 23, 2026 in New York City. Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images/AFP
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Zelensky Says Trump Made 'Final Decision' to Give Ukraine Patriot License

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the 81st session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly at UN Headquarters on September 23, 2026 in New York City. Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images/AFP
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the 81st session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly at UN Headquarters on September 23, 2026 in New York City. Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images/AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said US President Donald Trump told him he would allow Ukraine to produce advanced Patriot air defense missiles, after a series of reversals on the issue.

Kyiv is facing a shortage of the missiles, which remain the only ones reliably able to counter the ballistic missiles that Russia launches at Ukraine.

"At our last meeting, President Trump emphasized to me that yes, I have made a final decision. Ukraine will receive licenses for the production of Patriot missiles," Zelensky said in a voice note to journalists.

In July, Trump said it would be "pretty cool" to grant Ukraine the licenses, before backtracking, saying the United States should be "very careful" before granting Ukraine authorization.

Ukraine has reported an acute shortage of Patriot interceptors since the United States and Israel went to war with Iran in February, diverting supplies of the advanced systems.

Even if the licenses are granted, establishing industrial capacity would require more than a year and would not meet Kyiv's immediate needs.

And Kyiv has renewed calls for urgent support ahead of winter, and the threat of a repeated campaign of Russian strikes against Ukraine's power and heating infrastructure.

Kyiv needs five percent of the United States' Patriot interceptor missiles to get through the winter and 10 percent to destroy all of Russia's ballistic projectiles, Zelensky said last month.

In parallel, he said Kyiv is working on its own anti-ballistic systems, Freya.

World

Iran Proposes Reopening Hormuz Within 7 Days

FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 23, 2026. Picture taken through a window. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 23, 2026. Picture taken through a window. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Iran Proposes Reopening Hormuz Within 7 Days

FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 23, 2026. Picture taken through a window. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 23, 2026. Picture taken through a window. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Iran has submitted a proposal to the United States to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, its foreign minister told media outlets in New York.

"If certain conditions are met, the strait will be open within seven days and talks will start," Abbas Araghchi, who is in the US for the UN General Assembly, told media outlets including the New York Times and The Guardian.

Japanese news agency Kyodo was the first to report the proposal, citing a senior Iranian official on Tuesday.

Iranian media, however, denied the Kyodo report, while authorities in Tehran have not clarified their position.

Araghchi also met for talks on Tuesday with US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff.

Iran has previously set out seven conditions for ending the war and reopening the strait.

According to Araghchi, as quoted by the New York Times, the latest plan calls for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East for seven days, including in Lebanon.

It also calls for the release of frozen Iranian assets estimated to be worth at least $12 billion, as well as the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade of Iran.

On the seventh day of the truce, Iran would reopen Hormuz.

Araghchi said he was waiting for a US response to the plan and maintained that China supported the proposal.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting the United States this week where he is meeting with Trump for talks.

Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran's military, told AFP in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that ending hostilities in Yemen was also among Tehran's demands.

The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in June that aimed to end the war, reopen the strait and launch talks on Iran's nuclear program.

But the deal broke down shortly afterwards when Iran fired on commercial ships in Hormuz that it accused of deviating from its approved route through the waterway.

Iran requires ships to obtain authorization before passage, citing security and sovereignty reasons.

Ships that refuse to comply are regularly targeted, while the United States sporadically bombs Iranian coastal areas in retaliation.

World

An Explosion Near the Acropolis in Greece Injures at Least 2 People and Collapses a Building

Firefighters work at the scene following a powerful blast that caused a building to collapse and injured at least two people in Athens' Plaka district, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Firefighters work at the scene following a powerful blast that caused a building to collapse and injured at least two people in Athens' Plaka district, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
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An Explosion Near the Acropolis in Greece Injures at Least 2 People and Collapses a Building

Firefighters work at the scene following a powerful blast that caused a building to collapse and injured at least two people in Athens' Plaka district, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Firefighters work at the scene following a powerful blast that caused a building to collapse and injured at least two people in Athens' Plaka district, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A powerful blast shook the Greek capital’s tourist district of Plaka, near the ancient Acropolis, on Friday morning, causing a building to collapse and injuring at least two people who had to be rescued from an adjacent building, authorities said.

The fire department said the explosion occurred in an old two-story building in the Plaka district, the historic part of Athens that lies at the foot of the Acropolis hill, Greece’s most visited ancient monument. The building collapsed, while neighboring buildings were also damaged, The Associated Press said.

Firefighters rescued two women from an adjacent building, with police saying both were being transported to a hospital. Local media said a passer-by was also slightly injured by the blast.

Police cordoned off the area, while the fire department said rescue crews were checking whether any more people might be trapped.

Video footage from the scene showed rubble strewn across the street, with parked cars smashed by falling debris.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, but local media said a gas leak was suspected.