Iran’s president warns Trump it will not ‘bend at the knee’
Por Nahal Toosi — POLITICO – TOP Stories
Iran’s president said his country would not be cowed by American threats and accused the U.S. and Israel of terrorism in a defiant speech a day after President Donald Trump warned he may “annihilate” the Islamic Republic.
Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking Wednesday to the U.N. General Assembly’s annual gathering of world leaders, reiterated Tehran’s long-standing position that it doesn’t want nuclear weapons but has a right to a civilian nuclear program. It is a claim that Trump has said he does not believe and which fueled the U.S.-Israeli decision to launch a war against Iran seven months ago.
Trump, Pezeshkian warned, “must know that the resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying. We will never bow our head or bend at the knee.”
At times, Pezeshkian, dressed in a mourner’s black, held up pictures of Iranians killed in U.S-Israeli strikes. The pictures included one of Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the early hours of the war.
“They martyred, assassinated our scientists, our men, women and children — innocent children whom, in truth, had committed no crimes, no sins,” Pezeshkian said. As he spoke, the cameras showed a lone U.S. official at the American delegation’s desk inside the hall walking out.
Nonetheless, Pezeshkian ended the speech by saying that Tehran remains open to diplomacy. “Iran must be understood by Mr. Trump and those who seek to bully us that we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force,” Pezeshkian said.
The varying note was reminiscent of Trump’s speech Tuesday, in which the U.S. president also said he believed the countries could come to a diplomatic resolution, likely after the U.S. midterm elections in November.
Iranian and U.S. officials met Tuesday to see if there was a path forward for negotiations, but there was no indication of serious progress.
Pezeshkian’s speech took particular aim at Israel, including accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza, and said Israel and outside powers such as the United States were the true sources of instability in the Middle East.
“Iran must be powerful, so as to avoid being threatened, to avoid its future being threatened,” he said.
Pezeshkian also denounced the U.S. naval blockade against Iran. But he made little reference to Iran’s own push to control passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, he said Iran wants to work with its neighbors.
“Our regional issues must be resolved in the region at the hands of the countries in the region without becoming a toy in the hands of outside aggressors,” he said, a reference to some Middle East countries’ alliances with Washington and hosting of U.S. troops. “No relationship with a foreign power can become the tools of threatening neighboring countries in the region.”
Pezeshkian did not acknowledge the many grievances other countries in the region have with Iran, including its arming of proxy forces in Arab countries such as Lebanon and Yemen, which have helped destabilize those countries.
Fonte: POLITICO – TOP Stories
