Defiant Pezeshkian rails against Trump, U.S., Israel in fiery U.N. speech
by Vaughn Cockayne · The Washington TimesUNITED NATIONS — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian cast the joint U.S.-Israeli war as an illegal and destructive venture that will ultimately fail in a defiant speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.
The 71-year-old leader said that while President Trump has categorized Iran and its ruling regime as terrorists, the Islamic republic was the real “victim of terrorism.” He held up an image of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first hours of the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.
He also referred to the bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran, which also occurred at the start of the war. The U.S. attack killed 156 people, including over 120 children.
“Yes, they did hit us. But we did not bend the knee. We did not bow our heads. We responded. But we did not hit civilian populations,” Mr. Pezeshkian said. “They came into surrounding territories and targeted our universities, our healthcare centers, our schools, our hospitals, our infrastructure, all of it against international law.”
The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran as part of an effort to eliminate Tehran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons and inspire regime change in the Islamic republic. Mr. Pezeshkian is the first head of government to attend the U.N. General Assembly while their country is in an active war with the host nation.
The war has since spiraled into a struggle for control of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed in response to the attacks, and the conflict has grown to include Iranian proxy groups in Lebanon and Yemen.
Mr. Pezeshkian also took direct aim at Israel, which has kept up its aggressive rhetoric toward Iran over the last few months, despite retiring official military strikes against the Islamic Republic.
He accused Israel of attacking civilian areas across the Middle East and pointed to what he saw as hypocrisy in the focus on Iran’s nuclear program while Israel maintains nuclear weapons.
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Israel has never publicly confirmed or denied that it maintains a stockpile of nuclear weapons, though international observers widely consider the country a de facto nuclear power.
Mr. Pezeshkian said Iran does not seek a nuclear weapon, but would not accept any restrictions on its ability to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.
“Peaceful nuclear technology is part of our inherent progress,” he said. “For our sick people, it is a cure and treatment. For the agricultural sector, it is food security for industrial advancement and progress for supply of electrical energy. Iran does not accept that the disposal of nuclear technology be at the disposal of some of a handful.”
Iran’s nuclear program has remained one of the most consistent sticking points for U.S. diplomats during occasional negotiations with Iranian representatives.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio Wednesday said there can be no compromise on the nuclear issue and called again for a comprehensive agreement that includes a promise to stop all uranium enrichment in Iran.
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“The number one issue the president highlighted … Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. Everything emanates from that,” he told reporters in New York.
Mr. Rubio seemed to downplay the importance of the Strait of Hormuz closure, which has significantly stressed international energy prices this year. Brent crude, the international benchmark for crude oil, stood at approximately $102 a barrel on Wednesday amid uncertainty about the prospects for a peace deal.
U.S. representatives, via Qatari mediators, held three hours of talks with Iranian delegates on Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Mr. Trump said the talks were productive and hinted at further discussions “soon.”
Mr. Pezeshkian’s comments came a day after Mr. Trump’s hard-hitting speech at the U.N., in which he said Iran must decide between making a deal with the U.S. or facing annihilation.
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He added that the U.S. midterm elections, in which Democrats are expected to gain on Republicans in the House and Senate, will play no role in his decision-making regarding Iran.
Mr. Rubio echoed Mr. Trump’s insistence that the midterms have nothing to do with Iran on Wednesday, telling reporters that Tehran fundamentally misunderstands the U.S. political system.
“I just don’t think they understand our system very well,” he said. “When it comes to the imposition of both sanctions and use of military force, the president has extraordinary power … to be able to carry out those functions.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have seemingly paid little attention to the diplomatic maneuvering going on at the U.N. Since Monday, Houthi forces have wrested control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast from pro-government military units — the latest stage of a month-long campaign that effectively shattered a U.N.-brokered truce that largely held since 2022.
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On Sunday, a Houthi military spokesman said their forces launched “a large number” of drones and missiles at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, and the Aramco oil company in Yanbu.
“The Yemeni armed forces affirm that the false propaganda promoted by the Saudi enemy’s media outlets claiming that we target civilians has no basis in truth. If such incidents occur, they result from failed interceptions carried out by the Saudi enemy’s defenses,” Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said in a statement.
Along with consolidating strategic heights near the Red Sea coast, the latest offensive gives the Houthis direct military leverage over the vital Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Behnam Saeedi, a senior member of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, said the U.S. and Israel failed to achieve one of the coalition’s primary goals, regime change in Tehran.
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“The foundations of this government system and country are becoming stronger day by day,” Mr. Saeedi said Wednesday in an interview with Iran’s government-controlled Mehr News Agency.
He said Iranian forces are continuing to carry out operations in the Strait of Hormuz.
“It is true that America has started a blockade against us, and this blockade is not without effect, but today the American economy faces serious challenges,” Mr. Saeedi said. “America has achieved no success in this war and is now caught in a quagmire and trying to get out of it.”
Mike Glenn contributed to this report.
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Vaughn Cockayne
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