Iranian president denounces US, Israeli terrorism at UN

Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian affirmed on Wednesday September 23 that Iran had been “a victim of terrorism”, in reference to the military offensive of the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic, while warning that his country would “never lower its head”. Speaking before the UN General Assembly, the Iranian leader notably mentioned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “assassinated without any justification or legal framework” according to him at the start of the war triggered by Israeli-American strikes.

He also mentioned the strike which hit a school installed in a former military building on the first day of the offensive, at the end of February, killing more than 150 people. A United Nations investigation concluded that there was “reasonable” evidence to attribute the shooting to the United States. Iran has “never been an aggressor” and “has never started a war,” insisted Massoud Pezeshkian from the podium.

Skip the ad

“They closed us off access to our own territorial waters”

“We will never lower our heads,” the leader said to Donald Trump. “He must know that the resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, pressure and intimidation.” On Tuesday, the American president threatened to “annihilate” the country, while counting on an agreement after the November legislative elections in the United States. The Iranian president also returned to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic has been severely disrupted since the start of the war. Iran will not tolerate this crossing being used for “aggression” against it and “to impose insecurity” in the region, warned Massoud Pezeshkian.

The United States has implemented a blockade of Iranian ports and is increasing economic pressure on Iran to suffocate it financially. “They closed us off access to our own territorial waters” while using “missiles and lethal technologies to bring insecurity to all areas bordering this sea route,” said the Iranian leader. Massoud Pezeshkian is the highest-ranking Iranian official to visit American soil since the start of the war. The United States has authorized part of the Iranian delegation to go to the UN despite the ongoing conflict but it is subject, as already last year, to restrictions on its travel, according to the American State Department.