Iranian leader Masoud Pezeshkian, in his address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, condemned the aggression of Israel and the United States (U.S.) against Iran, highlighting the “savage nature of the attacks” and the violation of international law. He called on world leaders to consider whether they would accept such attacks for themselves, emphasizing the steadfastness of the Iranian people, the strength of faith, and national cohesion, and condemned the Israeli rhetoric about a “Greater Israel” as a threat to regional stability.
The Iranian leader began his address by referring to what he called the “golden rule” that runs through many religious texts: “what you would not want for yourself, do not approve for others.”
“Is this the state of our world? Let us look at the past two years. In these two years the world has witnessed genocide in Gaza, witnessed the destruction of homes and the repeated violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon, witnessed the destruction of the infrastructure of Syria, witnessed attacks on the people of Yemen, witnessed the forced starvation of exhausted children in their mothers’ arms, witnessed the assassinations of Iranian scientists,” he said.
Pezeshkian referred to the attacks of Israel and the U.S. on his country in June, calling them “savage aggression in an obvious violation of the most basic principles of international law.” He said that the attacks happened at a time “when we were on the path of diplomatic negotiations” and called on those present in the hall to consider whether they could “accept such things for themselves?”
He said that the Iranian people have repeatedly shown “that they will never bow before aggressors.” The Iranian president said that his country “stands tall relying on the strength of faith and on national cohesion.”
Furthermore, he added that during the 12-day war with Israel, “the patriotic and brave people of Iran exposed before the aggressors the delusion and self-deception of their arrogant calculations.”
He went on to emphasize that the enemies of Iran “have inadvertently reinforced the sacred national unity” despite “difficult and long-lasting economic sanctions, psychological and media war, and constant attempts to sow discord at every moment.”
Moreover, he condemned the rhetoric of Israeli officials calling for a “Greater Israel,” which is interpreted as a desire for full control over the occupied Palestinian territories and the creation of so-called “buffer” zones in neighboring countries.
“After nearly two years of genocide, mass starvation, maintaining apartheid within the occupied territories and aggression towards its neighbors, the absurd and delusional idea of a ‘Greater Israel’ is proclaimed recklessly by the highest structures of that regime,” he said.
The Iranian president emphasized that the recent attacks on neighboring countries show that Israel is no longer interested in security through normalization of relations. He added that Israel and “its sponsors are no longer satisfied even with normalization by political means. Instead, they impose their presence by sheer force and present it as peace through power.”
He sharply criticized the efforts of European countries to launch a process that could reimpose UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
Last month, the United Kingdom (UK), France, and Germany voted in the Security Council for the reintroduction of UN sanctions on Iran, claiming that Tehran is violating the 2015 agreement that limits its nuclear program.
“By this, they ignored the principle of good faith,” said Pezeshkian. “They bypassed legal obligations. They tried to portray the lawful corrective measures of Iran, undertaken in response to the withdrawal of the U.S. from the JCPOA [nuclear agreement with Iran] and to European violations and other failures, as a gross violation.”
Pezeshkian reiterated Iran’s longstanding position:
“With this, I state once again before this assembly that Iran has never worked on and will never work on building a nuclear bomb.”
