ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A US official and the Iranian delegation at the UN General Assembly held a “very good” three-hour meeting on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said, with another meeting scheduled in the “very near future” and Iran’s top clerical body warning against a deal under current circumstances. 

The meeting between a Trump administration official and the Iranian delegation “lasted for three hours,” Trump told reporters alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, revealing, “It was a very good meeting.” 

Another meeting is scheduled “in the very near future,” Trump added, explaining that Iran has to decide between “greatness - potential greatness or obliteration.” 

The comments come as Iran’s second-most powerful body, the hardline Assembly of Experts, warned on Tuesday that pursuing peace for Iran under current circumstances is an “unforgivable offense” and “divisive” for the country under current circumstances, noting that “past experience has shown there is no path other than resistance,” read a statement shared by state media.

“Any divisive statement, or one opposing declared policies (particularly regarding a referendum and ‘peace' in the face of enemy aggression), amounts to surrender and is an unforgivable offense,” it stressed.

Since the February war, Iran’s hardliners and moderates have taken differing positions on further talks with the US, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other hardliners showing little willingness to resume negotiations, while moderates express openness to further talks.

Washington has earlier expressed confusion over Iran’s power structure, with Trump saying that Iran is having a very hard time “figuring out who their leader is,” while claiming there was an internal struggle between “hardliners” and “moderates.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said at the UN’s General Assembly that he is facing a choice between making a deal with Iran following the upcoming US midterm elections or “annihilating” the Islamic republic, calling it Washington’s “big decision to make.” 

Meanwhile, only Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were granted visa approval and attended the UN General Assembly's high-level week in the US, for the first time following the February war between Iran, the US, and Israel.

Since the conflict started in late February, the warring parties have paused hostilities and held talks that have led to no agreement several times, repeatedly circling back to trading salvoes and mulling the possibility of a deal.