Iran's Pezeshkian tells UN Iran will not surrender to US threats

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a defiant wartime address at the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2026, declaring that Iran will never "bend the knee" to US threats of annihilation. Pezeshkian displayed photos of late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, assassinated in February 2026, and children killed in a US school strike in Minab. While the US delegation walked out and Secretary of State Marco Rubio blasted the speech, both sides engaged in indirect talks in New York.

Pezeshkian's UN Address

• ▪At the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian rejected United States President Donald Trump's September 22, 2026 threat to "annihilate" the Islamic Republic, accusing him of a "bullying mentality" and declaring Iran would never surrender
• ▪The United States delegation walked out of the United Nations General Assembly hall at the start of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's address on September 23, 2026
• ▪Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian defended Iran's right to a peaceful civilian nuclear program, stating clearly that Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons and will not accept limitations on peaceful nuclear technology
• ▪Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a defiant wartime address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2026, marking the first time he addressed the body since the war between Iran and the US and Israel began

The US-Iran Conflict

• ▪The United States and Israel launched an all-out war against Iran in late February 2026, which has dragged on for nearly seven months and collapsed two ceasefires
• ▪The opening salvo of the United States and Israeli attack on February 28, 2026, resulted in the assassination of Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at his compound in Tehran

Minab School Strike

• ▪A United Nations fact-finding mission reported in September 2026 that there were reasonable grounds to believe the February 28 United States airstrikes on the Minab school and a Lamerd sports complex constituted war crimes
• ▪Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held up photographs of children killed in a February 28, 2026, missile strike on an elementary school in Minab, which Iranian officials state killed over 175 people

Indirect Diplomatic Talks

• ▪Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei downplayed the September 22, 2026, indirect talks with the United States, stating they were "not anything new" and that Iran maintained its demands to end the Strait of Hormuz blockade and release frozen assets
• ▪United States envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held indirect talks with Iranian officials through Qatari mediators on September 22, 2026, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly

Rubio on Iran

• ▪United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's speech, questioning Iran's standing to lecture on human rights while habitually violating the sovereignty of its neighbors
• ▪United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on September 22, 2026, that President Donald Trump was open to meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in New York

Debatable claims

• ▪Iran should accept civilian nuclear limits to end the war
• ▪Iran should hold direct face-to-face negotiations with the US
• ▪The US should abandon its threat to annihilate Iran
• ▪Iran should unconditionally reopen the Strait of Hormuz