▲ Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian holds up a photo of a bombed school.
Amid an ongoing conflict, the United States and Iran engaged in a fierce war of nerves at the United Nations General Assembly, with delegations walking out during each other's addresses.
Local time yesterday, during the general debate of the 81st UN General Assembly held at UN Headquarters in New York, members of the U.S. delegation left the conference hall after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian began his speech.
President Pezeshkian opened his remarks by stating, "We are victims of terrorism," adding, "I come from a homeland, Iran, where our esteemed Supreme Leader was assassinated without any legal basis or justification."
He continued, emphasizing, "We merely defended ourselves and are not terrorists," while fiercely criticizing, "It was the United States and Israel that attacked us."
During the speech, he held up photographs of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some 150 elementary school students who were killed in airstrikes by the United States and Israel.
In protest against the early onslaught, U.S. delegation staff members walked out of the hall, a scene that was captured live on UN broadcast feeds.
Conversely, the Iranian delegation walked out en masse the previous day during the speech by U.S. President Donald Trump.
At the time, only a single Iranian working-level staff member remained in the assembly hall, watching President Trump's speech with a stern expression.
This sequence of events effectively meant that the U.S. and Iranian delegations successively walked out during each other's national leader addresses over the span of two days.
In his UN General Assembly address, President Trump intensified pressure on Iran by telling them to choose between a "deal" and "annihilation," while also referring to the country as a "bully of the Middle East."
However, contrasting with the direct display of friction inside the UN General Assembly hall, diplomatic contacts continued outside the venue.
During a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the previous day, President Trump told reporters, "Meetings (with Iran) went very well," adding, "It was a meeting that lasted for three hours."
Representing the U.S. side were President Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
On the Iranian side, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was reportedly involved in the negotiations.
President Trump emphasized, "We had a very productive meeting, and additional meetings are scheduled for the very near future," adding, "We'll see what the outcome is. But what is clear is that making a deal is also in Iran's best interest."
Toward the end of his speech that day, President Pezeshkian also directly mentioned President Trump while leaving the door open for negotiations.
President Pezeshkian stated, "President Trump and those who threaten us must know that while we do not accept the logic of force, we are ready to engage in dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiation."
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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