Iran's Pezeshkian Vows No Surrender at UN a Day After Trump Threatens to 'Annihilate' the Regime

Since U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28 and launched Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion, the war between the U.S., Israel and Iran has ground on for nearly seven months. This week it landed at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where the two sides traded threats from the same podium on back-to-back days.

Two Speeches, 24 Hours Apart

President Trump told the General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 22, that he faces "a big decision": let Iran rebuild into "one of the greatest" countries in the Middle East, or "annihilate the Islamic Republic" quickly, according to NPR. Trump said he still expects a deal, telling delegates, "I believe we'll make a deal right after the election." He also repeated that Iran will not be allowed to build a nuclear weapon. Pezeshkian answered Wednesday, Sept. 23. "Those who are terrorists, and train and protect terrorists, describe us as such. We have only defended ourselves. We are not terrorists," he said, according to the Daily Wire. He held up a portrait of the slain Khamenei and photos he said showed children killed in a U.S. strike on an Iranian school, per NPR and Fox News. "We will never bow our head or bend at the knee," he said, adding Iran is "ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force." A member of the U.S. delegation walked out of the chamber as Pezeshkian accused the U.S. and Israel of targeting civilians, according to the Daily Wire and Fox News. Boos from protesters outside the building had already greeted the announcement of his speech. Pezeshkian denied Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon, insisting the program is for energy and medical purposes, and rejected any limits on Iran's civilian nuclear activity, NPR reported. That claim remains contested by Washington, which has not offered public evidence in these sources disputing Iran's civilian-use framing point by point, but continues to insist any enrichment capability is unacceptable. Neither side's technical claim is resolved here; it's the core sticking point in any deal.

Rubio's Response

Asked about Pezeshkian's speech at a press conference, Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded sharply. "I think slaughtering 10,000 of your own people in protests is a violation of the U.N.," Rubio said, adding that sponsoring "terrorist organizations in the region to attack your neighbors, attack energy infrastructure, attack civilian sites is a violation of the U.N. system," according to the Epoch Times. "I don't know what standing Iran has to lecture anyone on human rights," he said.

Bessent: 'Cornered Animals'

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News's Bret Baier on Wednesday that the administration's combined military, naval and financial pressure, what it calls Operation Economic Outcast, has Tehran boxed in. "They're cornered animals," Bessent said, predicting Iran will "yell uncle" within "a week, a month, or two months," per Breitbart. Bessent said 80% to 90% of Iran's international flights were grounded Wednesday as Washington threatens secondary sanctions against any foreign company servicing Iranian carriers. "I'm not sure how the Iranian representatives at the U.N. are going to get home," he said. He also said the U.S. Navy is keeping 10 million to 17 million barrels of oil a day moving through the Strait of Hormuz despite Iranian drone attacks on tankers, down from roughly 20 million barrels daily before the war.

A Backchannel Through Qatar

Despite the podium fireworks, both governments confirmed talks are happening. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told NPR's Morning Edition the administration is "internalizing" what Iranian officials brought to a three-hour meeting Trump referenced. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said on social media that Tehran and Washington exchanged messages with Qatar mediating, with Iran's conditions including an end to U.S. hostilities, a lift of the naval blockade, and release of frozen Iranian funds, according to NPR.

Protests in the Street, and a Deeper Argument

Outside the UN, hundreds of Iranian Americans rallied Tuesday alongside former political prisoners and human rights activists, CBS News reported. Former political prisoner Shirin Nariman recalled daily executions during her imprisonment in Iran. "The only way to stop this execution and suppression is for the regime to go away," she said. Majid Sadeghpour of the Organization of Iranian American Communities argued the regime "will not change its behavior, nor will it be overthrown with foreign military intervention," calling instead for U.S. recognition of organized Iranian opposition. Separately, roughly two dozen protesters were arrested Tuesday morning for sitting in a Manhattan crosswalk near the UN in what NYPD described as a peaceful demonstration and peaceful arrest. A Free Iran rally Wednesday drew former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, according to Fox News. An opinion piece in The Hill argued that Pezeshkian's speech ignored Iran's political prisoners, executed protesters and inflation-battered population, framing the war as one between the Iranian nation and the ruling system rather than between Tehran and Washington, and pointed to exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi as an advocate for a secular, democratic alternative. That is one commentator's argument, not a policy position adopted by the U.S. government in these sources. Bessent put a rough clock on it: weeks to a couple of months before Iran, in his words, "yells uncle." Whether that means a negotiated deal through the Qatari channel or continued escalation is still unresolved, and neither Washington nor Tehran has announced a date for the next round of talks.