Iran’s Pezeshkian at UN: We’re open to talk with US without ‘bullying,’ Gaza ‘resistance’ to go on

Tehran is willing to negotiate with the US, says Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in his address to the UN General Assembly, but will not give in to pressure or threats.

“The resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, pressure, and increased bullying,” he says at the United Nations.

“Iran must be understood by Mr. Trump,” Pezeshkian says in reference to the US president. “We are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force.”

Turning to the Strait of Hormuz, he says, “We cannot let some have free access and gain their interests from the waterway, while at the same time using that waterway to impose their aggressions upon us… to forbid us access to our own waterways.”

Pezeshkian accuses the US of blocking Iranian shipping while bringing missiles through the strait to its allies. Iran has sought to obstruct the strait, a vital pathway for the global energy supply, since the beginning of the war. In response, the US imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.

Speaking about Gaza, Pezeshkian says “resistance will continue” against “occupation and aggression and injustice.”

“If it is weakened in one form, it will reemerge in others, perhaps stronger still,” he threatens.

“What other choice do they have? Succumb to bullying?” he asks. Iran is a longtime backer of Hamas, whose onslaught from Gaza into Israel on October 7, 2023, launched the war in the Strip.

Pezeshkian accuses the UN’s nuclear agency, the IAEA, of double standards regarding nuclear inspections, referring to Israel’s alleged nuclear weapons program.

“Atomic and nuclear bombs are in the hands of the Israeli regime, but the inspectors are requested to come to Iran,” he says.