US - Iran Relations: Could Trump Meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani At The UN?

President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday that he would be open to meeting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, despite tensions between the two countries.

Trump said that "anything's possible" and that Iran "would like to be able to solve their problems. They've got a big problem. They're getting killed financially."

Trump said that he appreciates French President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to bring Iran to the negotiating table and that Iran has "tremendous potential."

While at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, last month, Macron invited Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to the event in an attempt to broker talks between Zarif and Trump. Although Trump avoided Zarif, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that Trump wouldn't rule out a future meeting between the two leaders.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that he would not like to meet Trump until U.S. sanctions are lifted.

"Without the U.S.'s withdrawal from sanctions, we will not witness any positive development," Rouhani said on Iranian television. "If someone intends to make it as just a photo op with Rouhani, that is not possible."

Any Trump-Rouhani meeting could be bad news for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he faces Israeli elections this month. Netanyahu pushed for the U.S. to leave the Iranian Nuclear Deal last year and reapply sanctions towards Iran, which was seen as a major step forward by some Israelis for their country's security.

If Trump decides to broker a new deal with Iran, it might cause Israeli voters to doubt Netanyahu's leadership as well as his alliance with Trump.

Although Trump has called Iran the world's top exporter of terrorism, it wouldn't be the first time he has changed his mind on a major international security issue. In 2017, Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un often jeered at each other, with Trump calling Kim "Rocket Man" and Kim calling Trump "mentally deranged."

Trump and Kim have since spoken glowingly about their friendship and frequently exchange letters with each other. They have met multiple times over the past few years to discuss North Korea's denuclearization in exchange for reduced U.S. sanctions. In June, Trump met Kim on North Korean territory, the first time a U.S. president has done so.

A friendship between Trump and Rouhani seems less feasible, as the Trump administration on Wednesday applied new sanctions on an oil network tied to the Islamic Republic and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S.