Irans president says Tehran wants a deal with U.S. before midterm elections

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday suggested his government was willing to make a deal with the U.S.to end the war before Americans head to the polls this November.“We don’t want it to get to the midterm elections,” Pezeshkian said Thursday in a brief meeting with NBC News and other news organizations on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

“We wish Americans to return to the MOU before the midterms,” Pezeshkian added, referring to a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S.and Iran that laid out plans for a temporary ceasefire.

The agreement, signed in June, eventually collapsed.In response to NBC News’ request for comment, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said: “The Iranian regime has murdered thousands of its own people, killed Americans overseas, executed acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz, and launched indiscriminate attacks against its neighbors in the region.”“The President is courageously ensuring that such an evil country never possesses a nuclear weapon, which will make the entire world safer and more stable,” Kelly added.Pezeshkian’s comments came two days after President Donald Trump, in a speech to world leaders at the U.N., said he believed the Iranian regime would not make a deal to settle the conflict until after the fall elections.“I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election because it doesn’t make sense for them not to,” Trump said.“They’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election.”Polls show Democrats with an advantage heading into the November contests.

The latest NBC News Decision Desk Poll found 31% of respondents approved of Trump’s handling of the Iran war, while another 69% disapproved.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sits with members of the news media during a brief meeting on on Thursday in New York.Rebecca Blumenstein / NBC NewsTrump on Tuesday also defended the conflict and said he was considering whether to “annihilate” the count...