His speech at the UN was eagerly awaited. During the General Assembly on Wednesday September 23, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian assured that his country would not “bow its head” in the face of the aggression launched against his country by Donald Trump, calling itself a victim of “American terrorism”.
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Responding to the tenant of the White House, who the day before threatened to “annihilate” his country, Massoud Pezeshkian warned that “the resistance of the Iranian people will only intensify in the face of sanctions, growing pressure and growing intimidation.”
“We have never been an aggressor”, “never started a war”, insisted the president, the most senior Tehran official to visit American soil since the start of the war, triggered at the end of February by Israeli-American strikes.
Tensions around the Strait of Hormuz
Massoud Pezeshkian also said that Iran would not tolerate the Strait of Hormuz being used for “aggression” against his country.
“They have closed us off access to our own territorial waters,” the leader said of the United States, while using “missiles and lethal technologies to bring insecurity to all areas bordering this sea lane.”
The reopening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz remains at the heart of the conflict between Tehran and Washington.
Traffic in this sea route, through which a fifth of the world’s hydrocarbons passed before the war, has been severely disrupted by Tehran since the start of the war.
In return, the United States is blockading Iranian ports and increasing economic pressure on Iran to suffocate the country financially.
In his speech at the UN on Tuesday, Donald Trump said he had “a big decision to make: will an agreement be concluded with Iran (…) or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic (…)?”
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Dialogue despite attacks
“I hope they will make the right decisions before it is too late,” he later added, during a meeting with leaders of Middle Eastern countries.
But despite his very offensive speech, the American president also announced the resumption of dialogue with Tehran.
Exchanges took place between Iranian and American officials via mediators for much of the day on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, American envoy Steve Witkoff later explained.
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Tensions over the global economic repercussions of this conflict have escalated in recent weeks due to the Islamic Republic’s support for the Houthis in the Red Sea.
They consolidated their control of Bab el-Mandeb, another strait crucial for energy flows, further driving up oil prices.
With AFP
