Iranian president vows resistance as he addresses UN amid war with US and Israel

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a defiant address to the United Nations on Wednesday, speaking publicly for the first time since the United States and Israel launched what the report described as an all-out war on Iran. Pezeshkian accused Washington of terrorism over the assassination of former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the beginning of the conflict. He held up a photograph of Khamenei and said Tehran had never started a war.

The president said pressure, sanctions and intimidation would strengthen rather than weaken Iranian resistance. “We will never bow our head or bend at the knee,” he said, according to the report. He also addressed the Strait of Hormuz, which the report said had been intermittently blockaded since the war began, contributing to higher global energy prices.

Pezeshkian said Iran would not allow the waterway to be used against it while others retained unrestricted access to advance their interests. US President Donald Trump had said on Tuesday that he was considering whether to “annihilate” Iran, while also welcoming renewed discussions between Iranian and US negotiators. Pezeshkian did not mention those talks in his speech.

His appearance at the UN had been uncertain because of questions over a US visa. Washington ultimately issued him a permit but denied visas to several members of his entourage, the report said.