By Anjali Sharma
NEW YORK – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday said that the Islamic Republic will never “bend the knee” after nearly seven months of war with the US and Israel but added it remains committed to a diplomatic solution to end the conflict.
Pezeshkian said Tehran did not want a nuclear weapon but would not accept limitations on its civilian nuclear program, as he was addressing the UNGA session.
He responded to US President Donald Trump’s threat to “annihilate” Iran, a defiant Pezeshkian said that Tehran “could not be made to surrender”.
“He must know that the resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying,” he said during his address at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
President Pezeshkian also delivered a strong rebuttal to Trump’s “terrorists” remark to describe the Iranian leadership, saying the Islamic Republic, in truth, is the “victim of terrorism.”
He held up pictures of Iranian schoolchildren killed in US and Israeli strikes on February 28, the first day of war, to make his point.
“We have been victims of terrorism. I come from an Iran in which our esteemed Supreme Leader was assassinated without any legal framework or reason. I come from Iran where in truth, they bombed a school. These children perished under bombs, with weapons used by the United States and Israel. They were innocent, they had committed no crimes,” Pezeshkian said in his speech, prompting the US envoy to walk out.
He said Iran was attacked by the US and Israel and the Islamic Republic defended itself. “Iran must be powerful to avoid being threatened, to avoid its future being threatened…Our defensive systems have been built so that no one can think that bombing Iranian cities will go unanswered.”
He also insisted that Iran will not accept the Strait of Hormuz being used for “aggression”, adding that any deal would have to include an end to the US blockade of Iranian ships and ports.
“It cannot be the case that everyone benefits from the Strait of Hormuz while we are denied access,” he said.
On Iran’s nuclear program, a key issue that has been at the heart of the conflict, Pezeshkian said Tehran did not want a nuclear weapon but would not accept limitations on its civilian nuclear program.
“For our country, peaceful nuclear technology is part of our inherent progress,” Pezeshkian said.
He concluded his address, saying, “We will never bow our heads or bend our knees. We are ready for dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations but will never accept the language of force.”
