Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Wednesday, responding to President Donald Trump’s remarks the day before.
Trump centered his address on Tuesday on United States military action in Iran. He said, “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.”
Most of the Iranian delegation left the General Assembly hall when Trump began speaking on military strikes against Iran.
Trump went on to detail chaos, violence and “mass murder” caused by Iran. He said “they refused” deals he tried to negotiate, but “I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election.”
Pezeshkian challenges U.S. actions
Pezeshkian addressed the General Assembly Wednesday and responded, “The United States president described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism.”
The U.S. Department of State classifies Hamas, Palestine Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah as foreign terrorist organizations, all of which are funded by Iran. The State Department reports Iran has provided training, weapons and support to these groups.
Following Tuesday’s actions, a U.S. delegation official picked up his briefcase and left the hall as Pezeshkian began his remarks.
Pezeshkian pointed to destruction caused by the U.S. airstrikes and showed pictures of children and teachers allegedly killed by U.S. Tomahawk missiles, and a photo of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei killed by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes. They “targeted our universities, our healthcare centers, our schools, our hospitals, our infrastructures,” Pezeshkian claimed.
Pezeshkian said, “Lasting peace in West Asia is impossible without justice for Palestine.” He blamed Israel for attacks on Gaza and said that the U.S. enabled the conflict.
The war in Gaza began in October 2023 when Israel responded to a Hamas-led attack that killed 1,200 and saw Hamas take over 250 hostages into Gaza.
Trump said during his remarks, “I will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” Pezeshkian claimed Iran doesn’t want nuclear weapons, but that they want “no limitations to peaceful nuclear technology.” He pointed to nuclear technology helping to advance medicine, agriculture and energy.
Trump said one of his objectives for attacking Iran was to ensure they would not obtain nuclear weapons under Iran’s uranium enrichment program. The Congressional Research Service wrote, “Uranium enrichment can produce both low-enriched uranium, which can be used in nuclear power reactors, and highly enriched uranium (HEU), which is one of the two types of fissile material used in nuclear weapons.”
Pezeshkian ended his speech by saying, “We will never bow our head or bend at the knee” and “we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force.”