New York – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that he is open to meeting with Iranians on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, although a meeting has yet to be set up.

“We’re open to that,” he told NBC in an interview.

“I don’t think anything is scheduled at this point, but we’re certainly open to something like that,” he added.

This is especially the case if talks could bring about “something positive” and the ultimate goal of ensuring that Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said.

His remarks came shortly before President Donald Trump was due to speak at the United Nations in New York.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian headed out Tuesday to attend the UN General Assembly and is due to speak at the meeting Wednesday.

But Trump will have already left New York on Wednesday, heading back to Washington to host his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for a high-stakes summit this week.

The US president has also said that he was open to discussions with Tehran.

Pezeshkian will be the highest-ranking Iranian official to set foot on American soil since the start of the Middle East war, which began in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Tehran seeks an end to the war and aggression against Iran and its allies in the region.

The Iranian leadership also wants the blockade imposed on its ports to be lifted, among other demands.

At the heart of the conflict between Washington and Tehran is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global energy transit.

Tehran has blocked the strait since the start of the conflict, and Washington is maintaining a counterblockade of Iranian ports while stepping up economic pressure on Iran.

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