Iran's president tells UN Tehran open to talks, won't surrender nuclear program

Speech follows Trump’s vow to ‘annihilate’ Iran over stalled nuclear deal

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday that Tehran is open to negotiations with the United States but will not surrender under what he called Washington’s bullying, responding directly to President Trump’s threat a day earlier to “annihilate” Iran if no deal is reached.

“Iran must be understood by Mr. Trump and those who seek to bully us: that we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force,” Pezeshkian said in the 18-minute speech, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal described the confrontation as a protracted stalemate in which Washington seeks to choke off Iran’s economy through a naval blockade and sanctions while Tehran continues striking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and regional infrastructure. Sporadic direct fighting between Iran and the United States has continued since an interim deal in June quickly fell apart.

Speaking at the UN on Tuesday, Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran if it did not soon strike a deal and called its leaders terrorists. Pezeshkian responded to those remarks in Wednesday’s speech, laying out Iran’s terms for talks while warning that the country’s nuclear program would not be relinquished.

Pezeshkian said Iran would not give up what he described as its right to pursue a nuclear program he characterized as purely peaceful and not aimed at building nuclear weapons. “Iran does not accept for nuclear technology to be at the exclusive disposal of some or a handful,” he said. “We will not bow our head and give up the right that is inherently ours.”

The Iranian president accused the United States of hypocrisy for placing no pressure on Israel for possessing nuclear weapons while expecting Iran to accept years of constant nuclear inspections. Israel neither confirms nor denies that it has nuclear weapons, a position Pezeshkian cited as evidence of what he called a double standard.

Iran has not accepted inspections of its core nuclear sites since they were bombed in June 2025, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Pezeshkian, who has been in office since 2024 but is not considered one of Iran’s key powerholders, brandished at the lectern photographs he said depicted girls killed in attacks by the United States and Israel at the Minab school earlier this year. He accused the United States and Israel of stoking terrorism and instability in the region.

The speech drew only a moderate number of diplomats to the General Assembly hall, with no sign of top American or Israeli representatives in attendance. A few moments into the 18-minute speech, the single official seated at the U.S. delegation’s place exited the chamber, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The reporting was written by Laurence Norman of The Wall Street Journal.