Iran and US trade threats at the UN as backchannel talks continue

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian used his address to the United Nations General Assembly to reject US pressure and accuse Washington and Israel of attacking Iranian civilians and infrastructure. He said Iran would not accept being bullied, but he also left open the possibility of negotiations, saying Tehran was ready for dialogue and diplomacy without accepting the language of force. The speech came as the war between Iran and the United States and Israel entered a new diplomatic phase on the sidelines of the UN meeting in New York.

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Pezeshkian's remarks followed a threat from US President Donald Trump, who had told delegates that Iran could face destruction if no deal was reached. During the Iranian president's speech, a member of the US delegation walked out, and the Israeli delegation also boycotted the address. Trump later said his son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff had held a three-hour meeting with Iranian officials, describing it as productive and saying there was momentum toward an agreement.

The exchange underlined how the conflict is now being fought on two tracks at once: military confrontation and mediated diplomacy. Pezeshkian said Iran had been the victim of terrorism, not its perpetrator, and argued that no country in the region could secure itself alone. He also said the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme had no military solution, while insisting that Iran's right to navigation in the Strait of Hormuz could not be taken away, even in its own waters.

The stakes are high because the Strait of Hormuz remains central to regional security and global energy flows. The supplied material says the waterway has effectively been closed since the war began in late February, after Iranian missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels and a US blockade. That disruption has made the route a major point of leverage in the conflict and a source of concern for countries dependent on maritime trade through the Gulf.

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The latest UN confrontation also reflects the wider political damage caused by nearly seven months of war. Pezeshkian held up photographs of people killed in the opening phase of the conflict, including schoolchildren in Minab and the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whom the supplied material says was killed in a joint US-Israeli strike at the start of the war. He said sanctions and pressure would not force Iran to yield, while also telling the world that Iran extended its hand for cooperation because no one in the region would have security alone.

The talks in New York were described as mediated and indirect, with Qatar playing a role in earlier contacts between the sides. According to the supplied material, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff had previously spoken through Qatari mediators, and the two sides had reached a preliminary agreement in June that later collapsed after attacks on shipping resumed and the US reinstated its blockade. That history helps explain why even limited contact at the UN is being watched closely.

For now, the main unknown is whether the latest backchannel discussions can produce any practical movement on the blockade, frozen assets or the wider war. It is also unclear whether the public rhetoric from both leaders will narrow or widen the space for compromise in the days ahead. What to watch next is whether the mediated talks continue after the UN gathering and whether either side signals any shift in its core demands.

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