Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 23, 2026.
Mike Segar | Reuters
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a defiant speech to the United Nations on Wednesday blamed the the U.S. and Israel for stoking global instability while accusing them of launching illegal attacks on his country’s civilians and infrastructure.
The address to the UN General Assembly in New York City came as a fiery rebuke to President Donald Trump, who told the UN a day earlier that he was weighing whether to “annihilate” Iran after nearly seven months at war.
It also contradicted Trump’s insistent narrative that Iran desperately seeks a peace deal, and that one is likely to come right after the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Trump was not present at the UN on Wednesday; he returned to Washington overnight in advance of Chinese President Xi Jinping‘s arrival for a state visit.
Pezeshkian, framing Iran as the victim of U.S. and Israeli aggression, asserted that his country will continue to fight back “until our last breath.”
“The United States president described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism,” Pezeshkian said, according to a live translation of his speech.
“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?”
Pezeshkian’s appearance is historic: No other leader has ever addressed the UN in person while his or her country is actively at war with the U.S., The New York Times reported.
Pezeshkian began his speech by holding up photos of children he said were killed by U.S. and Israeli bombs.
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