Iran’s president makes defiant speech to the UN

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The defiant speech by President Masoud Pezeshkian came a day after US President Donald Trump said he may “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if a deal isn’t reached soon to end the nearly seven-month war.

While defending his country, Mr Pezeshkian held up pictures of some of the more than 175 civilians, two-thirds of them children, who were killed in missile strikes on a primary school in Minab and a sports complex in Lamerd that day.

The US has denied striking Lamerd and said it is still investigating what happened in Minab.

He said: “We have only defended ourselves. We are not terrorists.

“Our innocent people have been the targets of cowardly attacks and aggressions imposed upon our country. And we defended ourselves with utmost strength. America and Israel attacked us.”

He added: “Yes, they did hit us, but we did not bend the knee.”

Responding to Mr Trump’s threats, he told the gathering that “the resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying.”

The Iranian president also insisted that any deal would have to include an end to the US blockade stopping Iranian ships from using a key Gulf waterway.

He said: “It cannot be the case that everyone benefits from the Strait of Hormuz while we are denied access.”

During the speech, Mr Pezeshkian held up a photo of the country’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike on his residence when the US and Israel launched their illegal and unprovoked attack on February 28.

Towards the end of his speech, Mr Pezeshkian called out his US counterpart by name.

“It must be understood by Mr Trump and those who seek to bully us that we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force,” he said.

Shortly after, both US and Israeli officials condemned the speech, saying that it was hypocritical for the Islamic Republic to present itself as the victim of the world.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters: “I don’t know what standing Iran has to lecture anyone on human rights or the international system when they habitually violate it.”

Intermittent attacks continue in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast, where commercial shipping remains below prewar levels.