President Trump is set to sit down with leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council at the United Nations General Assembly this week, as the war with Iran grinds into its seventh month with no clear end in sight. The meeting comes just days after Iran targeted two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, a strike that rattled global energy markets even as the Trump administration insists oil and gas are still moving through the critical waterway. US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said Trump genuinely wants to hear directly from Gulf leaders about their concerns, with freedom of navigation through choke points like Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab expected to dominate the conversation. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are among the nations expected in the room, all of them feeling the economic weight of a conflict that has dragged on far longer than Trump originally predicted.

In a striking twist, Trump told Fox News he would probably be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has also arrived in New York for the assembly, a move that would mark a rare direct encounter between sitting American and Iranian leaders. No formal meeting has been confirmed, and Trump gave no specifics on when or how such a sit-down might happen. Still, the mere suggestion has stirred cautious optimism about a possible path out of the war, with markets responding positively to signs that diplomacy may finally be back on the table. Whether that door actually opens or the fighting simply continues will likely become clearer as world leaders take the podium at the UN in the coming days.