Iran’s UNGA Moment

Iranian President Pezeshkian Uses UNGA Speech to Criticize U.S. and Israel

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Situation Report: Iran’s UNGA Moment

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Situation Report

A weekly digest of national security, defense, and cybersecurity news from Foreign Policy reporters John Haltiwanger and Rishi Iyengar. Delivered Thursday.

Iran’s UNGA Moment

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called the U.S. government “terrorists.”

By **Rishi Iyengar**, a staff writer at *Foreign Policy*, and **John Haltiwanger**, a staff writer at *Foreign Policy*.

!Pezeshkian points his finger for emphasis as he stands at a lectern featuring the United Nations logo.

*Pezeshkian points his finger for emphasis as he stands at a lectern featuring the United Nations logo.*

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during the 81st United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 23. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

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September 23, 2026, 6:02 PM

Iran War

Analysis and news.

Welcome back to *Foreign Policy*’s Situation Report, where Day 3 of the U.N. General Assembly high-level week brought more fiery speeches and more technological concerns.

Here’s what’s on tap for the day: Two speeches are delivered by leaders whose countries are at war with two different permanent members of the U.N. Security Council—Iranian President **Masoud Pezeshkian** and Ukrainian President **Volodymyr Zelensky**, the CEOs of leading **artificial intelligence (AI) companies** address the U.N. Security Council, and World Bank President **Ajay Banga** talks with FP’s editor in chief.

Welcome back to *Foreign Policy*’s Situation Report, where Day 3 of the U.N. General Assembly high-level week brought more fiery speeches and more technological concerns.

Here’s what’s on tap for the day: Two speeches are delivered by leaders whose countries are at war with two different permanent members of the U.N. Security Council—Iranian President **Masoud Pezeshkian** and Ukrainian President **Volodymyr Zelensky**, the CEOs of leading **artificial intelligence (AI) companies** address the U.N. Security Council, and World Bank President **Ajay Banga** talks with FP’s editor in chief.

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**‘We Have Only Defended Ourselves’**

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian made the most of his rare opportunity to criticize the United States on U.S. soil on Wednesday, using his morning speaking slot in New York to retaliate rhetorically against U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to “annihilate” Iran in his speech the day before.

“I had prepared a speech to present to you yesterday,” Pezeshkian began. He then implied that instead, he felt compelled to respond to Trump’s characterization of the Iranian regime as “terrorists” in his Tuesday remarks.

The Iranian president declared that Iranians country were “victims of terrorism,” citing the U.S. and Israeli assassination of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “without any legal framework” as well as the separate U.S. bombings of a school and a sports complex in Iran in the early days of the war.

“Those who are terrorists and train and protect terrorists describe us as such,” Pezeshkian said. “We have only defended ourselves.”

**“An open wound.”** In addition to hitting back at Trump and the United States, Pezeshkian spent much of his speech criticizing Israel, whose prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is set to address UNGA on Thursday.

The Iranian president contrasted curbs on Iran’s nuclear program with Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons. “The nuclear weapon is in Israel, but the inspectors are in Iran,” he said. “Israel kills, but Iran is subject to sanctions.”

Pezeshkian also criticized Israel’s war in Gaza, describing its actions against Palestine as “an open wound on the conscience of the international community.”

**Nukes and deals.** One of the few moments when Trump received applause from the chamber the previous day was when he said that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.” But Pezeshkian said that Iran is focused on energy security rather than the pursuit of weapons. “For our country, peaceful nuclear technology is part of our inherent progress,” he said.

“Iran does not accept for nuclear technology to be at the exclusive disposal of some, of a handful,” he added. “We say it clearly: no nuclear weapons, and no limitations to peaceful nuclear technology.”

Trump, who returned to Washington on Wednesday for a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, has repeatedly talked up the prospect of a deal with Iran—including in his Tuesday speech—even as he threatens to destroy the country.

The U.S. president told reporters after his speech on Tuesday that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had met with Iranian representatives in New York that same day. Neither side has yet revealed what was discussed, though Witkoff later posted on X that they had “engaged in lengthy talks with the Iranian delegation through the mediators, who shuttled between the two sides throughout the day” and that he hoped the talks would “prove constructive and promising.”

Pezeshkian said in his speech that Iran is ready to negotiate with Trump only in the absence of U.S. coercion. “He must know that the resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying. We will never bow our head or bend at the knee,” he said, adding that Iranians are “ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force.”

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**On the Bu