Pezeshkian stood before the assembly holding photographs of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and of more than 150 schoolchildren killed in the opening days of the conflict, using the images to underscore what he described as civilian victims of “cowardly attacks.”
In his speech, the Iranian leader asserted that Iran has only acted in self‑defence, rejecting the label of terrorist and insisting that “our innocent people have been the targets of aggressions imposed upon our country.”
The address came a day after President Donald Trump publicly declared that the United States could “annihilate” Iran, a statement that has heightened diplomatic tensions and prompted Tehran to frame the war as a defensive struggle.
By bringing the grievance to the UN, Pezeshkian marked a rare wartime appearance for an Iranian head of state at the global forum, seeking to rally international opinion against what he called American and Israeli aggression.