Iran’s leader hits out at ‘bully’ Trump in UN speech but signals willingness to talk
Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran is ‘ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations but without the language of force’ Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, turned the tables on Donald Trump, describing America as the true bully and terrorist in the Middle East while also insisting that Iran had always shown a commitment to the negotiating table. In a defiant speech to the UN general assembly in New York, his first since the US and Israel launched an all-out war on Iran, Pezeshkian repeatedly vowed that Tehran would never bend the knee to America. Continue reading...
Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran is ‘ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations but without the language of force’
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, turned the tables on Donald Trump, describing America as the true bully and terrorist in the Middle East while also insisting that Iran had always shown a commitment to the negotiating table.
But he balanced defiance with a willingness to talk, saying: “It must be understood by President Trump and those who seek to bully us that we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations but without the language of force.”
On Tuesday, the US president had told the UN he was weighing whether to “annihilate” Iran, but went on to hail renewed talks between Tehran and Washington’s negotiators.
A surprise three-hour meeting between Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, and the US special envoy Steve Witkoff on the sidelines of the assembly the same day was regarded as constructive by both sides. It was the first such meeting since June, but did not stop the US delegation from walking out at the start of Pezeshkian’s speech.