President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he faces a “big decision” between making a deal with Iran and escalating military conflict, as he predicted the sides would reach an agreement following the midterm elections.

“I have a big decision to make,” Trump told the U.N. General Assembly in New York, on the first day of the high-level week. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? … Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?”

The president has recently made similar statements suggesting he must choose between negotiations and further confrontation, though there appear to be no serious negotiations underway and U.S. strikes have been sporadic.

Trump said he believes an agreement with Iran will ultimately be reached after the U.S. midterm elections in November, arguing that Tehran is waiting to see how Republicans perform.

“I believe we’ll make a deal right after the [midterm] 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. What they don’t realize is that I’m not running.”

Even absent a deal, Trump argued that U.S. efforts in Iran have yielded success, including stopping Iran from being the “bully” of the Middle East.

“For 51 years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled by bloodshed and mass murder, spreading death and carnage and chaos across the entire Middle East and beyond,” Trump said. “They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more.” 

While no bilateral sit-downs between Trump and Iranian leadership were scheduled, Trump said during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had a “very good meeting” with Iranian officials on Tuesday. 

“It was a meeting that lasted for three hours … They had a very good meeting, very productive meeting, and they have another one scheduled in the near future,” Trump said. “We’ll see how it turns out, but, certainly, it’s to their advantage to make a deal, and if we can do that, it’s preferable.”

Prior to the meeting a U.S. official had told CNN that Trump said he would be open to arranging a meeting with Iranian officials in New York “if the conditions are right,” or delegating senior advisors traveling with him to meet with them. Axios further reported that mediating Arab countries had been trying to arrange a meeting as well.

Trump called on “all nations” to “join us in enforcing the complete economic isolation of Iran until they stop their attacks on commercial shipping, relinquish their nuclear ambitions and cease their support of terror.” 

Praising international support for Washington’s stance, Trump thanked the U.N. Security Council for passing a resolution in March condemning Iranian attacks on maritime trade.

“That resolution, I’m pleased to say, received more co-sponsors from U.N. member nations than any Security Council resolution in history,” Trump said. “That’s something. Now we must be equally united in maintaining pressure.”

He added that the U.S. Navy has recently escorted more than 1 billion barrels of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, maintaining that “more oil is flowing than at any point since the start of the war.”

He also dismissed reports suggesting the U.S. military is running dangerously low on munitions as a result of the conflict.

“We have more munitions than we could ever possibly even think of using, and we’re building them at levels that we have never done before. We are adding to our stockpiles faster than we have ever been able to do before,” he said.

Trump noted that 18 new munitions facilities are currently under construction by defense contractors, promising that the expansion will lead to the “very rapid deployment of missiles of every type and ammunition of every type,” as well as faster resupply for allies.

Turning to the Middle East more broadly, Trump touched on the situation in Gaza, where implementation of his administration’s 20-point peace plan remains stalled as Hamas refuses to disarm. The president thanked countries that joined the Board of Peace, as well as those that committed personnel to secure Gaza.

“We ended the war in Gaza, saving untold thousands of lives. We also brought home all the remaining hostages, both living and dead, every single one of them,” Trump said. “Nearly 30 countries have joined the board, which I am honored to chair, and we’re thankful to many of those member nations for contributing billions and billions of dollars to relief. I also want to thank those who have committed troops, police, and training to help stabilize Gaza, including Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Jordan and more.”