Iran's Pezeshkian Tells UN Iran Will Not Bow to Force, Offers Dialogue

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian used his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday to reject what he called the language of force, while leaving the door open to negotiations with the United States.

Speaking in New York, Pezeshkian said the Iranian people would not submit to pressure and warned that aggressors would come to regret their actions. "We are ready for dialogue, but they should know that we will not accept the language of force," he said, adding that US President Donald Trump and others seeking to bully Iran needed to understand this.

His remarks came in direct response to threats from Trump, who has warned of annihilating Iran if it does not reach a deal with Washington. Pezeshkian argued that Iran is the victim of the war and accused the United States of committing terrorism against the Iranian people. He said a peaceful negotiation between the two countries was possible, but only if the threat of warfare ends.

During the speech, the Iranian president held up photographs of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and of more than 150 schoolchildren who, he said, were killed in Iran during the first days of the US war with Iran. "Do you see these children? These children were bombed and killed with weapons used by the United States and Israel. They had done nothing wrong," he said.

Pezeshkian also made the case for collective regional security, saying no country in the region could be secure on its own. "Either we will build security together, or we will endure insecurity together," he said.

The visit took place under unusually heavy scrutiny. The State Department restricted where the Iranian delegation could travel while in New York, limiting members to the United Nations campus and their hotel and barring them from specific areas for shopping and dining.

Pezeshkian is believed to be the first world leader to address the General Assembly while his country is at war with the host nation.