Iran’s president attacks ‘bully’ Trump at UN while signalling readiness for talks

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States of “terrorism” and described Washington as the real aggressor in the Middle East during an address in New York. At the same time, he said Tehran was ready for dialogue and negotiations if they took place without threats of force.

Pezeshkian was speaking at the UN General Assembly for the first time since the start of the full-scale US-Israeli war against Iran. He said Iran had not started the war but had defended itself, and insisted it had the right to a peaceful civilian nuclear programme.

On the same day, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff held a three-hour meeting on the sidelines of the assembly. Both sides described it as constructive, although the US delegation walked out when Pezeshkian’s speech began.

Iran’s conditions and the Strait of Hormuz

Pezeshkian gave no details of the meeting but spoke about winning Arab neighbours’ support for Tehran’s plans for the future of the Strait of Hormuz. He said Iran could not accept the waterway being used to transport weapons against it, suggesting Tehran may demand the right to inspect ships.

Iran has said the strait could reopen within seven days if seven preconditions for returning to talks are met. Iran’s foreign ministry listed an end to the war, US attacks, the naval blockade and economic warfare, as well as the release of Iranian assets.

Mohsen Rezaei, a hardline Iranian official, said he did not regard the contact with the Americans as negotiations. He said the strait would not reopen and talks would not take place until Iran’s conditions were implemented.

Sanctions and transport disruption

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has contributed to higher global energy prices. The latest published figures put the number of identifiable tankers passing through it at fewer than five a day; uncertainty over the Bab al-Mandab Strait, controlled by Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis, is adding to the disruption.

Iran is also under mounting sanctions and a naval blockade that is restricting oil exports. Iranian civilian aircraft face the possibility of a worldwide grounding because of threatened US secondary sanctions, while Oman and Iraq appear to have been forced to close their airspace to Iranian civilian planes.