Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday vowed Tehran would continue its “resistance” against pressure and threats by the United States, while also saying Gaza would remain firm against what he called “occupation and aggression and injustice,” in a defiant address to the UN General Assembly.

“The resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, pressure, and increased bullying,” he said at the United Nations, his first appearance at the body since the outbreak of his country’s ongoing war with the United States, which began in late February with US-Israeli strikes.

During Pezeshkian’s speech, the lone US diplomat in the hall walked out. The US mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment

“Iran must be understood by Mr. Trump,” Pezeshkian said in reference to the US president. “We are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force.”

“The remarks made by the US president yesterday … are a sign of a bullying mentality. … The Iranian people will not bow to pressure. … Those who are terrorists and train terrorists call us terrorists,” he said, referring to Trump’s description of Iran as the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism in his UN speech a day earlier, and his comment that he might “annihilate” it.

Turning to the Strait of Hormuz, he said, “We cannot let some have free access and gain their interests from the waterway, while at the same time using that waterway to impose their aggressions upon us… to forbid us access to our own waterways.”

Tehran has conveyed its conditions to reopen the strategic waterway to the United States through mediators, Iranian sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

Pezeshkian accused the US of blocking Iranian shipping while bringing missiles through the strait to its allies. Iran has sought to obstruct the strait, a vital pathway for the global energy supply, since the beginning of the war. In response, the US imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.

Turning to Gaza, Pezeshkian said “resistance will continue” against “occupation and aggression and injustice.”

“If it is weakened in one form, it will reemerge in others, perhaps stronger still,” he said. “What other choice do they have? Succumb to........

© The Times of Israel