Iran’s president delivers Trump rebuttal

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Today's Top Stories - September 23, 2026

Today's Top Stories - September 23, 2026

It’s Wednesday, and the show goes on at the United Nations General Assembly.

Pezeshkian addresses UNGA

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Miller’s attorney targets Poindexter

GOP senators demand Taiwan security assistance

Programming note: We’re Joshua Feldstein and Abigail Walker, filling in for Cate today. Please send us your tips, comments and story ideas to jfeldstein@thehill.com and awalker@thehill.com.

US walks out as Pezeshkian fires back at Trump:

AP Photo/Heather Khalifa

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a scathing speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday morning.

“Yesterday, the United States President described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism. I come from an Iran in which our esteemed Supreme Leader was assassinated without any legal framework or reason,” Pezeshkian said.

The Iranian leader also addressed the U.S. missile strike on the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school in February, which killed 175 people.

“Those who are terrorists and train and protect terrorists describe us as such,” he added.

The American delegation then left the room, as Pezeshkian criticized the U.S. and Israel for their actions in the Gaza Strip and for their continued attacks against his country.

He told the body to listen to President Trump’s own words on Tuesday, when he threatened to “annihilate” Iran.

Pezeshkian said, “Everything uttered about our country goes against the very essence and charter and the spirit of the United Nations.”

“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,” he added.

But Pezeshkian said Iran would never “bow our head” and give up its nuclear program.

“We say it clearly: No nuclear weapons and no limitations to peaceful nuclear technology,” he said.

How are those talks going? Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday said that he and other U.S. officials “engaged in lengthy talks with the Iranian delegation through the mediators.” He added his hopes that the conversations would lead to “constructive and promising” outcomes.

Ahead of the talks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News, “Whether something productive will come out of it, it’s harder to tell because the ultimate decisionmaker in Iran is the supreme leader, and the supreme leader is a radical Shia cleric.”

Just when........

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