Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that Iran had been the victim of terrorism and not its perpetrator, in an address that pushed back against US President Donald Trump's threat a day earlier to "annihilate" the Islamic Republic. Pezeshkian's speech marked a striking instance of a foreign leader addressing the world body while their country is at war with the host nation. He opened by holding up photographs of children killed in a missile strike on the Shajarat al-Tayyiba school in Minab on the first day of the war, which resulted in the deaths of 156 people, and of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the same opening salvo.
He also referenced a US strike on a sports hall the same day. "The US president described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism," Pezeshkian said.
"We only seek to live independently. Are we the sources of instability? Those who are committing terrorism and committing crimes, are they the protectors of peace and stability?" He accused the US and Israel of illegal attacks on Iranian civilians and infrastructure, saying Iran sought military capability solely for self-defence and had no intention of attacking other states.
The US delegation left the chamber as he spoke. Pezeshkian said Iran would not accept that "nuclear knowledge should be the exclusive preserve of a few countries" and described the dispute over its nuclear programme as having no military solution. Pezeshkian addressed Israel directly, saying "The atomic bomb is in Israel, but the inspectors are in Iran" and "Israel kills, but Iran is sanctioned." On the Strait of Hormuz, he said Iran would not allow its right to navigation "even in our own waters" to be taken away.
Addressing the broader Middle East region, he said, "No one in this region will enjoy security alone. Either we will build security together, or we will endure insecurity together." He closed with a direct message to Trump. "It must be understood by Mr Trump and those who seek to bully us that we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force," he said.
"Yes they did hit us, but we did not bend the knee." He claimed Iran had not struck civilian populations, a statement contradicted by documented deaths among mariners and civilians in Iranian attacks across the region since the war began. US and Israeli officials blasted the speech, saying that it was hypocritical for the Islamic Republic to present itself as the victims of the world. On Tuesday, Trump had told the same General Assembly, "Will a deal be made with Iran... or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly?" After the speech, he told reporters a meeting between his envoys and Iranian counterparts had been "a very good meeting," adding the Iranian side was "not the highest level, but it's something." Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei dismissed the talks, saying there had been "nothing new" in the exchange.
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