Regional leaders agreed on the need to find a path towards de-escalation in the Middle East during talks with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, the US ambassador to Turkey and senior envoy said.
Tom Barrack was speaking to reporters as Mr Trump met leaders from across the Gulf and wider Middle East in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Among those in attendance at the meeting were Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara; Jordan's King Abdullah II; Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim; and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam; as well as representatives from Iraq and Gulf Co-operation Council states.
Mr Trump was joined by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as well as Mr Barrack.
"There's a consensus that we need a way forward. That's the only consensus," Mr Barrack told The National after the meeting.
He said the talks were aimed at finding a temporary pause in regional hostilities that could open the door to a broader diplomatic process.
"It's just trying to get to a time-out, to take a breath, to have focus over a longer process, knowing it's not just an event," Mr Barrack said. "The message is we all need to find more tolerance, more kindness, and get along."
The meeting came after Mr Trump said US and Iranian officials had met shortly after he threatened in his address to the UN General Assembly to “annihilate” the country if a deal is not reached soon to end the almost seven-month war.
At the meeting, Mr Trump briefed regional leaders on the three-hour talks that Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner had held with Iranian officials. He described the two as "brilliant mediators" and sounded upbeat about the diplomatic push.
"We have a lot of momentum," he said. “The Iranians respect them very much. Hopefully they do the right thing fast before it's too late and they won't be able to survive as a nation.
"We’re not going to let Iran get a nuclear bomb. We may have to hit Pickaxe Mountain if we see any activity there."
