In his first speech at the United Nations General Assembly since Washington and Tel Aviv launched a war on Tehran, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday said that his people have been ‘victims of terrorism’ by the United States.

While addressing the UNGA, he held up photos of Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that the US assassinated on the first day of the war, February 28 and the 150 school children who were killed by a US strike.

“The President of the United States called us terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism”, he said.

🇺🇸🇮🇷#BREAKING: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian:

Yesterday, Trump described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism.

I come from an Iran in which our esteemed Supreme Leader was assassinated without any legal framework or reason.

I come from an Iran where,… pic.twitter.com/cq0XOH7Iof

— YG BULLET (@Ahmedminz7) September 23, 2026

“I come from an Iran where our esteemed Supreme Leader was assassinated without any legal justification or reason. I come from an Iran where a school was bombed. You see these children? These children perished in bombings with weapons used by the US and Israel. They were innocent”, Pezeshkian added.

The 71-year-old leader said that Iran only defended itself with “utmost strength” when the US and Israel attacked them.

Striking a defiant tone, Pezeshkian said, that US President Donald Trump should know that Iran’s resistance will increase as America ramps up its sanctions, pressure and “bullying”.

“(US President Donald Trump) 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,” Pezeshkian said.

Pezeshkian insisted that Tehran would not allow the Strait of Hormuz, which it has been intermittently blockaded since the start of the war causing global energy prices to spike, to be used for aggression against his country.

“We cannot let some have free access and bolster their interests from the waterway, while at the same time using that waterway to impose their aggression upon us,” he said.

When the Iranian leader was delivering his speech, the only US delegate in the room walked out of the UN General Assembly.

On Tuesday, Trump had told the UN he was weighing whether to “annihilate” Iran, but went on to hail renewed talks between Tehran and Washington’s negotiators.