TEHRAN -- President Masoud Pezeshkian says Israel and its allies are the “biggest terrorists” in the world as they are killing the innocent Palestinian and Lebanese people.
He made the remarks on Thursday at the end of his three-day visit to New York, where he attended the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly and held talks with officials from more than 15 countries.
Pezeshkian told reporters that most of his meetings focused on Israel’s ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
“Israel and those backing it unfairly preach about human rights and claim that they are opposed to terrorism,” he said.
“The Zionist regime and its supporters are the biggest terrorists, because they easily use their tools and power to bomb the innocent in Gaza and Lebanon, and destroy their homes. They have closed the roads and do not allow water, food and medicines to reach the people.”
During his visit to New York, Pezeshkian met with Iranians residing in the U.S. and members of the media, and had two interviews with American media.
He also delivered a five-minute speech to the General Assembly, during which he said Israel has been defeated in its genocidal Gaza onslaught and that the occupying regime cannot “repair its myth of invincibility” through resorting to barbarism against Lebanon.
In Tehran, Pezeshkian said his administration seeks to pursue political and economic diplomacy with the world from the West to the East, from New York to Samarkand.
“As promised, we will interact with the East and the West based on national interests,” Pezeshkian said in a post on his X account on Thursday.
He Vice President Muhammad Reza Aref will also travel to Pakistan and Armenia in the coming days as part of that policy, and expressed hope that the visits will have results that will benefit the Iranian people’s livelihood.
During his three-day stay in New York, the Iranian president delivered two separate speeches to the annual session of the General Assembly and the session on “Strengthening the United Nations Goals.”
He also met with authorities from more than 15 countries and discussed the latest developments in the region, particularly Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip and its aggression against Lebanon.
The president also had meetings with Iranian nationals living in the U.S. and political elites, the “Group of Elders” --  a group of world leaders that formed at the beginning of the 21st century in order to address global human rights issues and abuses -- as well as leaders of divine religions and American think tankers and a meeting with senior managers of American media outlets among others.