Pezeshkian accuses US, Israel of attacks on Iran at UN

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States and Israel of attacking Iran and said his country’s people had been subjected to terrorism during an address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday. Pezeshkian said the US attacks on Iran were unlawful and referred to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader and an attack on a primary school in the city of Minab at the beginning of the war. “I come from an Iran where they bombed a school, ” he said, displaying photographs of children killed in the attack. He said the children had committed no crime and accused the United States and Israel of killing them. The Iranian president also accused the US of targeting Iranian women, children, men and scientists, saying civilians had been subjected to what he called cowardly attacks. “We are not terrorists. We only defended ourselves, ” Pezeshkian said, adding that Iran had used its right to self-defence and had not targeted women or children. The Minab school strike has been a major issue raised by Iran at the UN. Iranian officials have said the US strike killed schoolchildren and teachers, while reporting on the incident has said the school was located next to an Iranian naval base. Pezeshkian said Iran had not bowed despite the use of advanced weapons and technology against it. “Despite this, we did not bow. We did not lower our heads, ” he said. He also accused Israel of carrying out what he described as terrorist actions in Gaza and said the territory was facing genocide. “Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, ” Pezeshkian said, adding that peace in the region was impossible without justice for Palestinians. He said the situation in Gaza represented a failure of international mechanisms and argued that resistance in the territory could not be ended through bombs and military attacks. “Those who defend themselves are called terrorists, ” he said. Iran’s nuclear programme Pezeshkian said Iran wanted to live freely and rejected claims that Tehran was a source of instability in the region. He said Iran had defended itself throughout its history and needed to become stronger. “We do not see our security in the insecurity of others, ” he said, adding that Iran did not need anyone’s permission to defend itself. On the nuclear issue, Pezeshkian said Iran needed peaceful nuclear energy for development and would not give up what he described as its right to peaceful nuclear technology. “There will be no nuclear weapons, but there will be a nuclear programme for peaceful purposes, ” he said. Iran has continued to signal that it is open to diplomacy while rejecting demands it views as requiring unilateral concessions. Tehran has also expressed readiness to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the US eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports. Pezeshkian’s address came a day after US President Donald Trump used his own UN speech to warn that Iran could face further military action if no peace agreement was reached. The Iranian president’s appearance at the General Assembly comes amid the ongoing US-Israel war against Iran and renewed diplomatic efforts by regional countries to seek a settlement.

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