Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian used his address to the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday to turn accusations of terrorism back on the United States and Israel, while maintaining that Iran would keep its nuclear programme for peaceful power generation.
Pezeshkian, the first leader to speak on American soil while at war with the United States, said Iran had been subjected to attacks on civilians and public infrastructure. He accused the US and Israel of terrorism and blamed both countries for the assassination of Iran’s former supreme leader.
“Yesterday, the United States president described us as terrorists,” Pezeshkian told the chamber. “We have been the victims of terrorism.”
He said Iran’s attackers had targeted “our universities, our healthcare centers, our schools, our hospitals, our infrastructure, all of it against international law”. Pezeshkian said Iran had retaliated, while claiming its response did not hit “civilian populations”.
The speech placed the nuclear dispute alongside Iran’s broader account of the conflict with the US and Israel. Pezeshkian said Iran was not prepared to abandon its nuclear programme, which Tehran says serves peaceful power generation. He set out Iran’s position as “no nuclear weapons and no limitations to peaceful nuclear technology”.
The US government and Donald Trump have repeatedly made the same condition central to any possible peace agreement with Iran: the country “can never have a nuclear weapon”. Pezeshkian said Trump’s statements on Iran conflicted with the essence of the UN charter.
“He must know that the resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying,” Pezeshkian said.
His remarks came after a 12-day joint US-Israeli bombing campaign directed at Iran’s nuclear sites before last year’s UN address. In that earlier speech, Pezeshkian rejected allegations that Tehran was seeking nuclear weapons and said Iran’s adversaries had disrupted diplomatic efforts.
Pezeshkian was scheduled to address the General Assembly on Wednesday and had said he would use his speech to discuss the situation of the Iranian people, the actions of Iran’s adversaries and the loss of trust during negotiations. The UN’s 81st session is being held under the theme “Restoring Trust”, a phrase he used to challenge the conduct of more powerful states.
He said trust could not be rebuilt while human rights and international frameworks were disregarded. The argument left Iran’s position unchanged on its nuclear programme, while also setting out the terms on which Pezeshkian said Tehran could engage diplomatically.
“Iran 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.
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