Video: US Representative walks out as Iran’s Pezeshkian addresses UN General Assembly
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian
A United States representative walked out of the United Nations General Assembly hall on Wednesday as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian took the floor to deliver his address, escalating diplomatic tensions a day after Iranian delegates similarly exited during U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech.
Video footage circulating showed the American diplomat collecting documents from the United States desk and leaving the chamber shortly after Pezeshkian began speaking.
The move mirrored the previous day’s walkout by most of Iran’s delegation when Trump discussed U.S. military actions against Iran and raised the possibility of annihilating the Islamic Republic if no deal was reached.
In his remarks, Pezeshkian rejected Trump’s characterisation of Iran and framed the ongoing conflict as defensive.
“The United States president described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism,” he told world leaders.
He added, “We have only defended ourselves. We are not terrorists. Our innocent people have been the targets of cowardly attacks and aggressions imposed upon our country. And we defended ourselves with utmost strength. America and Israel attacked us.”
Holding up photographs of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and schoolchildren killed in early strikes, Pezeshkian said, “Yes they did hit us, but we did not bend the knee.”
On the nuclear issue, he insisted Iran seeks only peaceful technology, “Iran needs nuclear energy not nuclear bomb,” while noting that “Iran will not forgo its rights to peaceful use of nuclear technology” and pointing to Israel’s undeclared arsenal.
The address came amid a prolonged period of direct and indirect confrontation between Iran and the United States and Israel, including intermittent military strikes, disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, and stalled negotiations.
Pezeshkian emphasised Iran’s readiness for talks while underscoring its defensive posture, stating that the country has not invaded another nation for two centuries yet “must be so powerful that no one can think of bombing its cities will go unanswered.”
Walkouts by national delegations have become a recurring feature of recent UN General Assembly sessions, reflecting deep divisions over the Middle East conflicts.
