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Date: September 23, 2026
Reporter: Emilly Jordan
UNITED NATIONS — Iran will not surrender in its war with the United States, but Tehran believes diplomacy can still be used to try to end the conflict, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told world leaders at the United Nations on Wednesday.
Pezeshkian made the remarks while addressing the 193-member United Nations General Assembly in New York, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump delivered his own address warning that he could “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if no agreement is reached to end the conflict.
The U.S. delegation walked out of the General Assembly hall at the beginning of Pezeshkian’s speech. The U.S. mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Iranian president's address came as the Strait of Hormuz remained one of the central points of tension between Tehran and Washington. The waterway, through which about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed before the war, has become a major issue in the confrontation.
Pezeshkian said Iran could not accept a situation in which other countries continued to benefit from the waterway while Iran was denied access to shipping through it.
“It cannot be the case that everyone benefits from the Strait of Hormuz while we are denied access to shipping through this waterway,” Pezeshkian said.
He also warned that maintaining what he described as a permanent deployment of hostile fleets and expanding the war would not produce peace.
“The permanent deployment of hostile fleets and the expansion of the war will not lead to peace,” he said.
Pezeshkian's remarks came amid continuing diplomatic contacts surrounding the conflict. On Tuesday, Trump said the United States and Iran had continued talking and that he believed the two countries would eventually reach a settlement.
Trump nevertheless maintained that Washington would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. In his UN speech, he argued that the U.S. campaign against Iran had prevented Tehran from acquiring such a weapon and warned that the United States could take further action if no agreement was reached.
Iran has also signalled that it wants diplomacy to remain an option, although Tehran and Washington remain divided over the conditions for ending the conflict. A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday that Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf shipping within seven days if the United States eased military pressure and lifted its blockade of Iranian ports. The official said Iran had conveyed its proposal to Washington through mediators.
The Strait of Hormuz has become particularly important because of its role in global energy transportation. Any prolonged disruption to shipping through the waterway could affect oil and gas supplies and increase pressure on international energy markets.
Pezeshkian's speech therefore presented Tehran's position as a combination of resistance to U.S. military pressure and continued support for negotiations. While saying Iran would not surrender, he argued that the expansion of the war and the presence of hostile military forces would not bring peace.
The speech underscored the wide gap between Washington and Tehran as both governments continued to discuss the possibility of diplomacy while the conflict remained unresolved.