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<\/a><\/p>\nPresident of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, addresses the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) during the high-level annual meetings on September 23, 2026, in New York City. (Photo by Selcuk Acar\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe will never bow our head or bend at the knee,\u201d Pezeshkian said, speaking one day after President Donald Trump told the 81st high-level opening session of UNGA that he was wavering between diplomacy and annihilating the Islamic Republic. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not afraid of fighting, of war,\u201d Pezeshkian said.<\/p>\n
The two men were in New York amid a pause in the war that the U.S. and Israel began in February. A 60-day ceasefire was put in place in April, but broke apart in July, without a resumption of full-fledged conflict or a diplomatic deal. <\/p>\n
That war was an outgrowth of the last three years of Iranian proxies\u2019 war with Israel, which began with the deadly Hamas mass attack on Israel\u2019s southern border on Oct. 7, 2023. It continued the next day with Hezbollah\u2019s attack on Israel\u2019s northern border, as well as aerial attacks by the Houthis in Yemen against Israel. Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis each have Iranian backing, and Iranian personnel were directly involved in Hezbollah\u2019s attacks on Israel.<\/p>\n
In response to the February strike, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz through which a quarter of the world\u2019s oil supply flowed before the war. It has since only partially reopened.<\/p>\n
U.S. and Iranian officials held two hours of Qatari-mediated talks on the sidelines of UNGA on Tuesday, according to a post on X by Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei. He wrote that Iran set clear conditions for a diplomatic resolution: the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade and sanctions, an end to the war, the release of Iranian frozen or restricted assets and the acceptance of shipping routes determined by Iran and Oman, the small Arab country on the other side of the strait. <\/p>\n
Israel, which is not a party to the talks, has focused on the elimination of Iran\u2019s nuclear capabilities, which were already weakened by joint Israeli-American strikes on its nuclear facilities in June 2025. <\/p>\n
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is set to land in the U.S. on Thursday morning and deliver remarks to UNGA later in the day, is expected to address the war with Iran and what Israel says is Iran\u2019s pursuit of nuclear weapons. <\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke about Iran during a press conference at the U.N. around the time of Pezeshkian\u2019s speech on Wednesday. \u201cIran can never have a nuclear weapon,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
The U.S. makes this point \u201cin every interaction,\u201d he said. Trump is open to a diplomatic deal, he explained, adding that this would not happen if Iran continues to sponsor regional proxies and global terror, and pursue nuclear weapons. Rubio warned that in that scenario, Iran would face either sanctions, \u201cmilitary options\u201d or both.<\/p>\n
Iran has \u201ca choice to make,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n
Pezeshkian said in address to the U.N. that the U.S. misread his country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIran must be understood by Mr. Trump, and those who seek to bully us. We are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sanctions and pressure will only increase \u201cthe resistance of the Iranian people,\u201d Pezeshkian stressed, adding that \u201cthe expansion of warfare will not result in security.\u201d<\/p>\n
He took issue in particular with Trump\u2019s characterization of Iranians as terrorists and their actions as terror.<\/p>\n
The opposite is true, he said, stressing that \u201cwe have been the victims of terrorism.\u201d As an example, he cited the Israeli-U.S. assassination of Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an airstrike in Tehran in February.<\/p>\n
According to Reuters, the U.S. delegation walked out of the room at the start of his speech.<\/p>\n
Pezeshkian also called the U.S. missile strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab a terror attack, which killed over 150 including 120 boys and girls, as well as a strike on a sports complex in the residential area of Lamerd that killed 22 civilians.<\/p>\n
Pezeshkian held up photographs of the school and the sports complex stating, \u201cYou see these children? These children perished under bombs.\u201d The United States is investigating the attack.<\/p>\n
Pezeshkian described Israel and the U.S. as terrorist countries that targeted Iranian civilians, saying that his country\u2019s military actions were defensive and designed to deter other countries from attacking it. He said Iran\u2019s nuclear program was a civilian one and did not involve weapons, and that Iran will not accept limitations to its nuclear technology.<\/p>\n
It is wrong to demand that Iran give up its \u201cpeaceful\u201d nuclear program when Israel has atomic weapons, Pezeshkian said as he highlighted the presumption that Israel is one of only nine countries in the world to possess nuclear weapons. Israel has never acknowledged possessing such weapons.<\/p>\n
Pezeshkian accused Israel of a \u201cdouble standard,\u201d saying that his country\u2019s nuclear program is expected to be under international supervision, while there is no similar requirement on Israel.<\/p>\n
Israel \u201chas the nuclear weapons\u201d but \u201cthe inspectors are in Iran. Israel kills. But Iran is subject to sanctions. This is a true tragedy, which would make anyone hearing it laugh, at best,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Access to the Strait of Hormuz would remain limited and free access would not be provided to aggressors against Iran, he said. \u201cWe do not, we cannot let some have free access and gain their interest from a waterway, while at the same time using that waterway to impose their aggressions upon us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Pezeshkian defended the rights of Palestinians to resist Israel or risk being driven from their homes. He described Israel as an occupying force on Palestinian land, with a focus in particular on Palestinian suffering in Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as occupation, aggression and injustice persist in the world, resistance will continue,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n