Iran’s Pezeshkian rebukes US threats but leaves door open to diplomacy at UN
publishers 7articles 10first reported 23 Sep, 04:05 UTCdeveloping since 23 Sep · 7 editions
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States of terrorism and vowed that Iran would not “bend the knee” during a defiant address to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, while also expressing willingness to pursue diplomacy after nearly seven months of war.
Responding to President Donald Trump’s threat a day earlier to “annihilate the Islamic Republic,” Pezeshkian said Iran was a victim of terrorism and that pressure would strengthen Iranian resistance. He displayed photographs of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in a joint US-Israeli strike in February, and schoolgirls killed in an alleged US air attack on their school in Minab.
A US delegation official walked out as Pezeshkian began speaking, according to Al Jazeera and France 24, while the Israeli delegation boycotted the address, according to Al Jazeera.
Despite his criticism, Pezeshkian said Iran “extends its hands towards the world” and invited international cooperation, arguing that no country in the region could achieve security alone. He also rejected US pressure in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the waterway could not provide free access to some countries while being used to impose insecurity on Iran.
Trump said Tuesday that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff had held a productive three-hour meeting with Iranian officials and that negotiations had momentum. Iranian officials, however, characterized discussions on the General Assembly sidelines as “not anything new,” France 24 reported.
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Written from 8 articles, 2 with the publisher's own text; 5 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 30 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
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