Sept. 23 (UPI) — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed the United States and Israel for causing global instability and accused them of launching illegal attacks on his country Wednesday in an address to the U.N. General Assembly.
One day earlier, President Donald Trump told the United Nations that he must make a deal with Iran or “annihilate the Islamic republic.”
“Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” Trump wondered aloud.
The Iranian military said the threats from Trump are “a sign of strategic desperation.”
Pezeshkian’s speech contradicted what Trump said about Iran being desperate for a peace deal. Trump said the deal will come right after the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3.
Trump didn’t attend the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday. He was in Washington preparing for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit.
Pezeshkian began his speech by showing photos of children that he said were killed by U.S. and Israeli bombs. He told the United Nations that Iran will fight back “until our last breath.”
“The United States president described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism,” Pezeshkian said.
The only representative of the United States in the hall walked out as Pezeshkian spoke of the war’s civilian casualties.
“Are we the sources of instability? We only seek to live independently,” Pezeshkian said. “We are the ones who cause instability? Those who are committing terrorism and committing crimes, are they the protectors of peace and stability?”
It was the first time any country addressed the United Nations while being actively at war with the United States, The New York Times reported.
In March, a Tomahawk missile hit a primary school in Minab, Iraq. It killed more than 150 people, including about 120 children.
The United Nations’ Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran found earlier this month that the United States may have committed war crimes in the attack.
Tuesday afternoon, Trump told reporters that U.S. officials had a good meeting with Iranian envoys at the United Nations.
Iranian officials gave “clear and transparent” conditions for diplomacy with the United States during those talks, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esma Baghaei said in an X post.
He said those terms are: “Cessation of aggressive U.S. actions, including the naval blockade, economic terrorism, ending the war on all fronts, release of Iran’s frozen or restricted assets [and] acceptance of a safe shipping route in the manner agreed upon between the two coastal governments.”
Iran has said it won’t give up the right to develop peaceful uses of nuclear technology.
“ln order to defend our country, we do not seek anyone’s permission,” Pezeshkian said at the United Nations. “We will not bow our heads and give up the right that is inherently ours. We say it clearly: No nuclear weapons and no limitations to new peaceful nuclear technology,” he said.
“For our country, peaceful nuclear technology is part of our inherent progress,” Pezeshkian said.
Source: U.S. News
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