President tells Trump that Iran will never 'bend at the knee'
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the US of terrorism and said Iran would not give in to pressure from the US and Israel.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sep 23, 2026. (Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar)
UNITED NATIONS: Iran's president struck a defiant tone at the UN on Wednesday (Sep 23) where he spoke for the first time since Washington and Israel launched an all-out war on his country, vowing Tehran would never "bend at the knee."
Masoud Pezeshkian accused Washington of "terrorism" for assassinating former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the conflict, insisting Tehran had never started a war.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump had told the UN General Assembly that he was weighing whether to "annihilate" Iran but went on to hail renewed talks between Tehran and Washington's negotiators.
Pezeshkian made no reference to the talks to resolve the stalled war in his steely speech.
"(Trump) 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.
Pezeshkian insisted Tehran would not allow the Strait of Hormuz, which it has choked off since the start of the war causing global energy prices to spike, to be used as leverage against his country.
"We cannot let some have free access and bolster their interests from the waterway, while at the same time using that waterway to impose their aggression upon us," he said.
Pezeshkian's attendance at the UN's signature diplomatic event, in the heart of Manhattan, had been in doubt as it was unclear if the United States would issue a visa.
Ultimately Washington granted the permit, but denied visas to several members of Pezeshkian's entourage.
Soaring fuel prices threaten to cost Trump's Republicans their control of Congress in November's midterms, but the US president has sought to dismiss the domestic impact of the war.
Masoud Pezeshkian accused Washington of "terrorism" for assassinating former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the conflict, insisting Tehran had never started a war.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump had told the UN General Assembly that he was weighing whether to "annihilate" Iran but went on to hail renewed talks between Tehran and Washington's negotiators.
Pezeshkian made no reference to the talks to resolve the stalled war in his steely speech.
"(Trump) 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.
Pezeshkian insisted Tehran would not allow the Strait of Hormuz, which it has choked off since the start of the war causing global energy prices to spike, to be used as leverage against his country.
"We cannot let some have free access and bolster their interests from the waterway, while at the same time using that waterway to impose their aggression upon us," he said.
Pezeshkian's attendance at the UN's signature diplomatic event, in the heart of Manhattan, had been in doubt as it was unclear if the United States would issue a visa.
Ultimately Washington granted the permit, but denied visas to several members of Pezeshkian's entourage.
Soaring fuel prices threaten to cost Trump's Republicans their control of Congress in November's midterms, but the US president has sought to dismiss the domestic impact of the war.
AI AND UKRAINE
Also Wednesday, the future of artificial intelligence is expected to dominate the UN gathering of world leaders.
Following weeks of worldwide headlines about risks of uncontrollable AI - and calls for a slowdown - industry leaders are set to brief an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
Sam Altman of OpenAI, Dario Amodei of Anthropic and Clement Delangue of Hugging Face will brief the 15-strong Council, the United Nation's top body.
In his speech Tuesday, Trump rejected international regulation of AI, calling such proposals a "globalist scheme."
"The very same people who said we'll all be dead in 12 years because of global warming ... are now saying that AI is going to kill us all," Trump said.
Besides AI and conflict in the Middle East, Russia's war against Ukraine will again be raised.
The Security Council will meet on Ukraine, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to address the UN General Assembly as well.
Zelenskyy, after meeting with Trump on Tuesday, said that Washington and Kyiv want the war with Russia to end within months.
He added that he is ready to halt strikes on Russian energy sites if Moscow agreed to do the same.
Following weeks of worldwide headlines about risks of uncontrollable AI - and calls for a slowdown - industry leaders are set to brief an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
Sam Altman of OpenAI, Dario Amodei of Anthropic and Clement Delangue of Hugging Face will brief the 15-strong Council, the United Nation's top body.
In his speech Tuesday, Trump rejected international regulation of AI, calling such proposals a "globalist scheme."
"The very same people who said we'll all be dead in 12 years because of global warming ... are now saying that AI is going to kill us all," Trump said.
Besides AI and conflict in the Middle East, Russia's war against Ukraine will again be raised.
The Security Council will meet on Ukraine, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to address the UN General Assembly as well.
Zelenskyy, after meeting with Trump on Tuesday, said that Washington and Kyiv want the war with Russia to end within months.
He added that he is ready to halt strikes on Russian energy sites if Moscow agreed to do the same.
Source: AFP/fs
