Iran’s president is about to take the same United Nations stage where President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic. Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New York late Tuesday, vowing to “firmly defend” Iran’s position on the war.
“I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before?” Trump said during his address on Tuesday. “Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?”
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Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei responded to that threat Wednesday morning.
“These remarks do not stem from strength; they stem from desperation,” Baghaei told reporters in Farsi. He accused Trump of using the U.N. General Assembly to make threats that violate international law and diplomatic norms.
Diplomacy already underway
But Pezeshkian arrives at the U.N. with diplomacy already underway.
U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff says American and Iranian negotiators held lengthy, indirect talks on the sidelines of the general assembly Tuesday. He didn’t say what they discussed, only that he hopes the talks will prove “constructive and promising.”
Trump called the talks a “very good meeting” and said another round is “scheduled in the very near future.”
Baghaei also confirmed Wednesday talks with the United States through Qatari mediators.
“The Iranian delegation conveyed its views and conditions to the American side very clearly and explicitly through those mediators,” Baghaei said, adding that Iran laid out its positions on the Strait of Hormuz, regional security and its conditions for diplomacy.
