NEW YORK/TEHRAN: Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that war had been "imposed" on the Islamic republic, declaring that Tehran would never stop defending itself, nor would it shy away from negotiations to achieve peace, and noting that while the atomic bomb is in Israel, the inspectors are in Iran. "War was imposed on us, but we proved that we do not fear war to defend ourselves, nor do we shy away from negotiation for peace, and we stand ready to give our lives to defend beloved Iran," he declared during his address.
Pezeshkian stressed, "Yesterday, the US president said that Iran is a terrorist. We are victims of terrorism. I come from a country where the leader was assassinated without any legal justification. I come from a country where a school was bombed. Look at the children of Minab, children who were bombed and killed. Israel and the United States used their weapons to kill our children; our children had committed no wrongdoing." He added that Lamerd is a small city in Iran where children were playing sports when the facility was bombed.
The Iranian president said that the United States and Israel attacked Iran with the latest military equipment, but the Iranian people strongly defended their country. "They attacked us, but we did not bow to them. We responded to their attacks, but we did not target civilians," he added. "They attacked our schools, hospitals, scientific centres, bridges and infrastructure, which was in violation of international law." The president added that trust requires avoiding double standards in the region.
Pezeshkian underlined, "I repeat, the atomic bomb is in Israel, but the inspectors are in Iran! Israel kills, yet Iran is sanctioned! That is the tragedy." He noted that Iran seeks no special privilege, but rather equal rights and acceptance of responsibilities. "Iran extends a hand of cooperation to the world. Our appeal to the world is for peace and justice, not for another war; not out of weakness, but out of confidence in our own strength," he concluded.