The president defends Iran’s right to self-defense and peaceful nuclear technology, condemns attacks on Iran and Gaza, while drawing a clear line against the language of force.

NEW YORK — President Masoud Pezeshkian told the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday that Iran would not bow to military pressure, would defend itself without seeking permission from any country, and would neither accept the label of terrorism nor surrender its right to peaceful nuclear knowledge, while keeping the door open to dialogue but firmly rejecting the language of force.

Pezeshkian devoted much of his address to Iran’s confrontation with the United States and Israel, beginning with the assertion that Iran has itself been the victim of terrorism and attacks, rather than their perpetrator, and stressing that the country’s military capabilities have been developed to protect its people, territory and independence rather than to pursue aggression against other states.

“Yesterday the President of the United States said we are terrorists; we are victims of terrorism,” Pezeshkian said, referring to attacks against Iran and declaring that the country has endured the assassination of its leader, the bombing of a school, the killing of children and the targeting of scientists, women and other civilians.

“I come from an Iran whose leader they assassinated, without any legal reason, without any evidence, and I come from an Iran where, in fact, they bombed a school,” he said, pointing to children killed in attacks and stressing that they “had committed no crime” and “had done nothing wrong.”

Pezeshkian referred specifically to Lamerd, describing it as one of Iran’s small cities and saying that children had been exercising in a sports hall there when it was bombed with cluster bombs that could be divided into thousands of pieces, while adding that Iranian scientists, women, children and other civilians had also been killed despite having committed no crime.

“Those who are terrorists and train terrorists tell us that you are terrorists; we are only defending ourselves, but we are not terrorists,” he said, describing Iran’s military response as an act of defense against attacks that had been imposed on the country.

“America and Israel attacked us with the latest technology and equipment, and our people stood with strength and struck back, but we did not bow our heads before them and we struck back,” Pezeshkian said, drawing a distinction between Iran’s response and attacks against civilians by insisting that “we did not strike the people.”

He said that forces which have come from territories where they have been based and equipped attacked Iranian schools, hospitals, universities, bridges and infrastructure, and he declared that such attacks are “contrary to international law,” while recalling that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran on the first day after he assumed responsibility.

“Israel bombs and assassinates whatever government, whatever administration, whatever region it wants,” Pezeshkian said, linking the assassination in Tehran with his broader argument that Iran has been subjected to repeated violations of its sovereignty.

Pezeshkian also condemned the situation in Gaza, saying that more than 80,000 innocent people have been killed and more than 100,000 displaced, while describing the situation as genocide carried out through available weapons and technology and questioning how those responsible for killing and destruction could characterize others as terrorists or sources of instability.

“Are we the cause of insecurity, because we want to live independently and do not want to bow our heads?” he said, asking whether those who carried out assassinations, killings and crimes could be regarded as the providers of security and peace while Iran is portrayed as the source of instability.

The Iranian president said the experience of war has reinforced Tehran’s determination to develop sufficient national power to protect the country, but he repeatedly distinguished that objective from any intention to use military strength for territorial expansion or aggression.

“We want nothing; we have found our answer, and we need power because a nation that cannot defend itself will be crushed,” Pezeshkian said, stressing that the powerful in the contemporary world have too often become agents of destruction rather than acting according to the interests of people, humanity, justice and democracy.

“Anyone they want to destroy, they put the name terrorist on,” he said, while asserting that Iran has not attacked any country for 200 years and has always acted in self-defense.

“For 200 years Iran has not attacked any country, two hundred years; we have always defended ourselves,” Pezeshkian said, adding that Iran therefore wants power to protect itself rather than power to commit aggression.

“We want power to defend ourselves, we do not want power to commit aggression,” he said, while explaining that Iran seeks energy for development rather than for building bombs or threatening society and wanted to participate in creating regional security.

Pezeshkian said the Iranian people have also demonstrated their strength during seven months of continuous mobilization, saying that people have remained in the streets day and night to defend Iran and prevent those whom America and Israel had encouraged and armed from entering the country and creating insecurity inside it.

“For seven months our people have been in the streets day and night, the people are our power and we have stood with the power of the people,” he said, adding that Iran needs to be sufficiently powerful to protect its survival and progress, sufficiently responsible not to use its power for domination and sufficiently farsighted not to seek security through insecurity among neighboring countries.

On Iran’s military posture, Pezeshkian said the country has deliberately developed defensive systems to ensure that attacks against Iranian cities will not be considered without consequence, while making clear that Tehran does not intend to seek authorization from outside powers before defending itself.

“Regarding Iran’s defense, we built our defense systems so that no one would imagine that bombing Iranian cities would go unanswered,” he said, adding that “Iran’s military power is for defense,” and making his position explicit by saying, “we will not ask anyone for permission to defend our country.”

The president then turned to Iran’s nuclear program, stating that the international debate over centrifuges, enrichment, sanctions and bombs has obscured the civilian and developmental purposes of nuclear technology.

“For our nation, nuclear technology is part of the right to development,” Pezeshkian said, explaining that nuclear energy is used for treatment of patients, food security in agriculture, technology in industry and the development of a sustainable electric future.

“Iran does not accept that nuclear knowledge should be the exclusive privilege of a few countries, and Iran does not regard nuclear weapons as a source of security,” he said, while insisting that Tehran will not surrender its right to science, industry and peaceful energy.

“We say clearly: neither nuclear weapons nor deprivation of nuclear knowledge,” Pezeshkian said, presenting the formulation as Iran’s position on the nuclear issue and rejecting both the possession of nuclear weapons and the denial of peaceful nuclear technology.

“Iran’s nuclear position will not be resolved on the battlefield,” he said, adding that the solution is an agreement that could provide the world with credible assurance that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful while simultaneously providing the Iranian people with assurance that their rights will be preserved.

Pezeshkian subsequently turned to regional security, describing participation in regional security as another central principle and stating that wars in the region could not be isolated within national borders because crises in one country inevitably spread to neighboring states.

“We live in a region where war knows no borders, and a crisis in one country spreads to its neighbors,” he said, explaining that Iran does not regard its neighbors as competitors for security and instead wants them to possess sufficient strength to contribute to regional stability.

“We want our neighbors to be strong,” Pezeshkian said, before turning to the Strait of Hormuz and stating that the waterway could not simultaneously remain open to others while Iran is prevented from exercising freedom of navigation even in its own waters.

“In a waterway that is the Strait of Hormuz, we cannot have everyone benefiting from the waterway while, at the same time, its historic guardian is prevented from using that water because of unjust sanctions, even in its own waters,” he said.

“They close the way for us, and then weapons, explosives, missiles and energy for destroying countries are transferred through that same waterway, and this is not possible,” Pezeshkian said, adding that Iran will not allow such a situation to occur and warning that permanent deployment of hostile fleets cannot create genuine maritime security.

“Maritime security cannot be separated from the security of the coastal countries,” he said.

On Palestine, Pezeshkian described Gaza as a central test of the international system and stated that lasting peace in West Asia could not be achieved without justice for the Palestinian people.

“Palestine remains a wound on the body of the conscience of the international community, and Gaza remains a symbol of the failure of international mechanisms to prevent the suffering of civilians,” he said, adding that decades of international resolutions have failed to end occupation and violence.

“We cannot speak about peace while ignoring Palestine, and sustainable peace in West Asia will not be sustainable without justice for Palestine,” Pezeshkian said, adding that resistance will continue as long as occupation, aggression and injustice remain.

“As long as occupation, aggression and injustice exist in the world, resistance will continue, and if one form of it is damaged, it will appear again in another form and perhaps more powerfully,” he said.

Pezeshkian said Gaza had demonstrated that resistance could not be forced into submission through military force and siege, while presenting resistance as a natural human response to displacement, destruction and the loss of homes and land.

“This is human nature, this is the nature of human beings; if you drive a human being from his land, he resists, and if you bomb a human being’s home and homeland, he resists,” he said, asking what a person could do other than resist when confronted with the destruction of his home and the loss of his land.

“What else can he do if he does not resist, accept bullying, accept being driven from his home and remain silent in the face of this aggression, while being called a terrorist if he wants to defend himself?” he said.

Pezeshkian stated that regional problems should be addressed by regional countries themselves before becoming grounds for intervention and war by distant powers, defining strategic independence as a condition in which relations with foreign powers could not become mechanisms for attacking neighboring countries.

“The issues of our region, before becoming an excuse for war by distant powers, have the possibility of being resolved within the region and by the countries of the region,” he said, adding that strategic independence meant that relations with no foreign power should become an opportunity for war against a neighbor.

Turning directly to those responsible for attacks on Iran, Pezeshkian said the country has experienced the consequences of military decisions and that Iran’s resilience has been tested, while insisting that the country cannot be compelled to surrender through war.

“Our nation has experienced military power and the consequences of their destructive decisions up close, they have tested Iran’s resilience, and now they know very well that Iran cannot be forced to surrender through war,” he said.

“Iran has never been the initiator of any war, and it has always demonstrated its commitment to the negotiating table,” Pezeshkian said, adding that although war has been imposed on Iran, the country has shown that it does not fear war when defending itself and does not flee negotiations when seeking peace.

“They imposed war on us, but we proved that we are not afraid of war when defending ourselves and that we do not flee negotiations when seeking peace, and we will stand to the end of our lives to defend our beloved Iran,” he said.

The president then framed the question of international trust around the unequal application of international standards, stating that trust could not be rebuilt through declarations while different rules are applied to different countries.

“The subject of this session is rebuilding trust, and trust cannot be built with words, because it requires avoiding double standards,” Pezeshkian said, before contrasting Israel’s nuclear capabilities and status with the international inspections demanded of Iran.

“The bomb and other weapons of mass destruction in this region are in the hands of the Israeli regime, but inspections are demanded from Iran,” he said, adding that Israel has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza while Iran itself has been bombed while sitting at the negotiating table.

“Israel has nuclear bombs, is not a member of the NPT, has never in its entire shameful history allowed a single inspector into its territory, but receives billions of dollars in free weapons and immunity to bomb whatever capital it wants,” Pezeshkian said.

“I repeat: the bomb is in Israel, but the inspectors are in Iran; Israel kills, but Iran is sanctioned,” he said, adding that sanctions ultimately affect ordinary people, including the poor, the sick and innocent civilians.

“If we seek justice, friend and rival must be measured by the same standard,” Pezeshkian said, adding that human rights should not become an instrument of geopolitical competition and that Iran is not seeking special privileges but equal rights while accepting the responsibilities associated with them.

Pezeshkian said Iran’s historical experience has produced a broader conclusion about the relationship between power and security, warning that although a world without power could be dangerous, a world governed exclusively through force could not produce lasting stability.

“Iran has learned one truth clearly throughout its long history: a world without power is dangerous, but a world that understands only the language of power will not have lasting security,” he said.

“If international law is enforced only when it is compatible with the interests of the powerful, more countries will conclude that, to ensure their security, they must rely only on their own power, and this will be the beginning of a more dangerous world for all of us,” Pezeshkian said.

“We must not allow the 21st century to become an era of return to the politics of the powerful and the rule of the strong, and we must not build a world in which military power replaces legitimacy, sanctions replace diplomacy, assassination replaces politics and war replaces dialogue,” he said.

Pezeshkian extended a hand of cooperation to the international community while maintaining that Iran’s willingness to pursue peace is grounded in confidence rather than weakness and does not require accepting military pressure or coercion.

“Iran extends a hand of cooperation to the world, and we call on the world not to another war but to peace and justice, not from weakness but from confidence in our own power,” he said.

“No one in this region will achieve security alone, and either we will build security together or we will endure insecurity together,” Pezeshkian said, describing a future in which security, justice and human dignity will constitute shared and inalienable rights for all nations.

“We are thinking about building a future in which security, justice and human dignity are inalienable and shared rights for all nations, a future in which no nation is marginalized, no voice is lost amid the noise of power and no power has the right to determine the future of others in their place,” he said.

“An order worthy of the international system must be based on equality among nations, justice, fairness and the shared will of humanity, because peace that is not for everyone is not peace and justice that does not include everyone is not justice,” Pezeshkian said.

In his final remarks, Pezeshkian returned to the previous day’s speech by the U.S. president and said the remarks represented “the nature of bullying and the logic of force,” adding such an approach is contrary to the explicit language of the United Nations Charter.

“The words of the President of the United States yesterday, before world public opinion, thinkers, politicians and jurists, were a clear sign of the nature of bullying and the logic of force and were contrary to the explicit text of the United Nations Charter,” he said.

“Let him know that threats will make our nation more united, make it stronger and increase the resistance of Iranians, and the Iranian nation will not bow its head before force,” Pezeshkian said, adding that “the aggressors will be made to regret it.”

“This is what Trump and those who want to bully must understand,” he said, ending his address with a formulation that brought together the two central messages of his speech, namely Iran’s readiness to pursue dialogue and its rejection of any settlement imposed through coercion.

“We are ready for dialogue, but let them know that we will not accept the language of force,” Pezeshkian said.