official UN product (UN News General Debate, 23 Sep 2026) · press triangulation (Guardian / Indian Express)
Pezeshkian at UN: ‘bully’ Trump, no surrender — talks only without the language of force
One day after Trump floated annihilating Iran at the UN, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the General Assembly that Tehran will not bend the knee, branded U.S. pressure as bullying, and said Iran is ready for dialogue and diplomacy “without the language of force” — as the U.S. delegation walked out and Tehran kept Hormuz equity and war-end conditions on the table.
Key facts
- Primary product
- UN News General Debate write-up — Pezeshkian UNGA address 23 Sep 2026
- Rebuttal
- Opens against Trump “number one sponsor of terror”; “Those who are terrorists…describe us using that word” (UN News)
- Photos / victims line
- Held Khamenei photo + children/graves; “We have been the victims of terrorism” (UN News)
- No surrender
- “We did not bend the knee; we did not bow our heads” (UN News); IE: “Yes, they did hit us, but we did not bend the knee”
- Diplomacy stamp
- Ready for dialogue/diplomacy/negotiations “without the language of force” / “without accepting the language of force” (Guardian / IE)
- Bullying close
- Trump “must know” Iranian resistance will increase under sanctions, pressure, bullying (UN News)
- US walkout
- US delegation walked out at start of speech (Guardian / IE via Reuters)
- Hormuz equity
- Cannot be that everyone benefits from Hormuz while Iran denied access; hostile fleets will not lead to peace (IE / Guardian)
- Hardline color (not new Rezaei card)
- Rezaei: until conditions implemented, Hormuz stays shut / no negotiation (Guardian)
- vs boarded
- Delta vs conflict-iran-unga-annihilate-settlement-hormuz-talks-2026-09-22 — Pezeshkian reply only; do not re-body Trump speech / Witkoff talks
- Live later
- White House reply / mediated rounds / transit counts / oil → HUD — no invented signed deal
It must be understood by President Trump and those who seek to bully us that we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations but without the language of force.
Masoud Pezeshkian, UNGA address — The Guardian paraphrase/quote, 23 Sep 2026
Note
One day after President Trump told the UN he might annihilate Iran or make a deal, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian took the same General Assembly podium and threw the terror charge back. UN News carries the open: those who are terrorists, he said, describe Iran with that word. He held up a photograph of the late supreme leader Ali Khamenei — assassinated without legal framework, he said, in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike — and images of children and graves from the opening days of the war. “We have been the victims of terrorism.” “We did not bend the knee; we did not bow our heads.”
Guardian and Indian Express add the diplomacy stamp UN News summarized more narrowly: Pezeshkian told Trump and “those who seek to bully us” that Iran is ready for dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiations — but without the language of force. The U.S. delegation walked out as he began. On Hormuz, he said it cannot be that everyone benefits from the waterway while Iran is denied shipping access, and that permanent hostile fleets will not bring peace. Hardline SNSC secretary Mohsen Rezaei, speaking the same window, repeated that until Iran’s conditions are implemented the strait will not open and there will be no negotiation — already boarded as Tehran’s seven-conditions line, not a new lead. Later White House replies, transit counts, and oil prints stay on the HUD.
Why it matters
Tuesday’s annihilate line met Wednesday’s reply: no surrender, bully thrown back, talks only without force — while U.S. seats emptied and Hormuz stayed a conditions lever. Diplomacy under a gun, not a peace carnival.
Sources
Primary + secondary attribution as listed. Live values go to the HUD / source product.