Pezeshkian said that the Iranian people had been the “victims of terrorism”, rejecting US President Donald Trump’s description of Iran as “terrorists”.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, Pezeshkian displayed images of victims of an American strike on a school in Minab at the start of the war, along with images of a sports hall in Lamerd destroyed by US bombardment.
“The United States, by using weapons with multiple warheads, targeted that sports hall. They martyred and assassinated our scientists, our men, women and children. Innocent children who in truth had committed no crimes, no sins,” he said.
Pezeshkian stressed that while Iran had responded to strikes by the United States and Israel, it had not targeted civilian areas.The United States delegation walked out at the start of Pezeshkian's speech. The US mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Yes, they did hit us, but we did not bend the knee. We did not bow our head,” he said. “We responded, but we did not hit civilian populations.
“They came into surrounding territories and targeted our universities, our healthcare centres, our schools, our hospitals, our infrastructure; all of it against international law,” Pezeshkian added.
He also said that Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh had been assassinated in Tehran by Israel on the day of his inauguration as president.
“Israel targets any neighbourhood in any city in any province, commits assassinations like a true terrorist,” he emphasised.“Those who are terrorists, and train and protect terrorists, describe us as such,” he added. “We have only defended ourselves; we are not terrorists.”
In the first part of his speech, the Iranian leader held up an image of the Islamic Republic's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike on his compound in Tehran on the first day of the US-Israeli assault on Iran. He also held up images of children killed in a strike on a school.
A UN fact-finding mission on Iran said earlier this month that it had reasonable grounds to believe that the US was behind two military strikes on a school and a sports facility in Iran, and that these constituted war crimes.
Pezeshkian addressed the 193-member General Assembly a day after US President Donald Trump spoke. Trump used his speech on Tuesday to make the case for his war on Iran, arguing he has prevented Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and warning that he could "annihilate the Islamic Republic" if no deal is reached to end the conflict.
Hormuz cannot be used for passage of weapons used against Iran: Pezeshkian
Pezeshkian said Iran wants to have "strong neighbours" near the Strait of Hormuz, but cannot allow those who seek to impose "insecurity" on Iranians to have access to it.
"We cannot let some have free access and gain their interest from a waterway, while at the same time using that waterway to impose their aggressions upon us, to impose insecurity upon us, to forbid us access to our own waterways," he stated.
Iran has had its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, which was a conduit for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas before the war.The strait lies between Oman and Iran, linking the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond.
Iran has said it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within days if the US eased military pressure and lifted its blockade on Iranian ports.
"It cannot be the case that everyone benefits from the Strait of Hormuz while we are denied access to shipping through this waterway. The permanent deployment of hostile fleets and the expansion of the war will not lead to peace," Pezeshkian said
Iran needs nuclear energy, not a nuclear bomb, Pezeshkian says. Pezeshkian said Iran needs peaceful nuclear energy, not a nuclear bomb.
"For our country, peaceful nuclear technology is part of our inherent progress," he said, adding, "Iran does not accept nuclear technology to be at the exclusive disposal of some, of a handful."
"We say it clearly, no nuclear weapons and no limitations to peaceful nuclear technology," he said.Iran threatens to paralyse airports in neighbouring countries if they stop Iranian flights