Pezeshkian displays photos of the Iranian women who were killed, attacks America and Israel but wants dialogue

Rome. Whilst a ‘key’ Iranian delegation, led by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, arrived in New York at the start of the week to attend the United Nations General Assembly, the US State Department spokesperson clarified the restrictions on Iranians’ movements outside the UN headquarters and John F. Kennedy International Airport, as well as the ban on the purchase of “luxury goods or other items, in accordance with our sanctions policy”. When he addressed the UN members yesterday – with the US delegation absent – Pezeshkian became the first president of a country at war with the United States to set foot on American soil to speak at the General Assembly. 

On Tuesday, Donald Trump, in his speech, had threatened to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic of Iran, whilst, as usual, leaving open a second, less negative option that “could help transform it into one of the great countries of the Middle East”. The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces responded by announcing that it was ready to retaliate with “devastating” attacks, harsher than those seen in the early stages of the war; shortly afterwards, Trump stated that U.S. officials had held – for the first time since the failure of the peace memorandum – a three-hour meeting with an Iranian delegation on the sidelines of the Assembly. The meeting was attended by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner: although “not at the highest level,” it was described as very “productive” and took place under Qatari mediation.

Following the meeting, a senior Iranian official spoke to the media about the possibility of the Strait of Hormuz reopening within seven days, whilst the regime’s hardline faction described Araghchi’s contacts with Witkoff and Kushner as “a gift to Trump”, and pointed out that the delegation had been ordered not to meet the Americans face to face. Pezeshkian, who is, on the other hand, a supporter of negotiations with the United States, responded yesterday to Trump’s threats by portraying Iranians as “victims of terrorism” rather than terrorists; he showed the Assembly photographs of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was “assassinated without any legal basis or reason”, of the young girls who were victims of the missile attack on the school in Minab, on the first day of the war, spoke about the children of Gaza, respect for international law, and recalled that Iranians have been demonstrating “every night” for the past seven months in support of their country, whilst overlooking the protests against the regime which, according to the United Nations itself, hold Tehran responsible for serious crimes against humanity, “including murder, imprisonment and torture”. Pezeshkian criticised both the “illegal US attacks” against Iran and those by Israel, saying that there is a double standard within the international community. “Israel kills, but Iran is subject to sanctions,” he said, before concluding: “We will never bow our heads nor bend our knees. We are ready for dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations, but we will never accept the language of force.”