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Pezeshkian: ‘Either we will build security together, or we will endure insecurity together’
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday that no country in the Middle East region will have security on its own, stressing that, “Either we will build security together, or we will endure insecurity together”.
Addressing the 81st United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday in New York, the Iranian president said that Iran would preserve its strength and called on the world to pursue peace and justice rather than another war.
Referring to remarks by the US President Donald Trump during his speech at the General Assembly, who called Iran a terrorist state, Pezeshkian said Iran itself is a victim of terrorism.
“I come from an Iran whose leader was assassinated without any legal reason or justification. I come from an Iran where a school was bombed. Look at the children of Minab, children who were bombed and killed. Israel and the United States martyred our children with their weapons. Our children had committed no crime,” he said.
The US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran on 28 February, assassinating the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamanei, several top commanders and thousands of Iranians.
In response, Iran’s Armed Forces launched attacks on US military bases in regional countries and Israel’s positions in the occupied territories. Iran also closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas travels.
Iran not afraid of war
Pezeshkian added that Iran has never started a war and has consistently demonstrated its commitment to the negotiating table. The war, he said, has been imposed on Iran, but the country had shown that it was not afraid of war when defending itself and would not shy away from negotiations when seeking peace.
Pezeshkian underlined that Iran would stand to the last breath in defense of the country.
He said the US and Israel attacked Iran with the latest military equipment, while Iranians had defended their country with strength.
Referring to targeting of schools, hospitals, scientific centers, bridges and infrastructure by the US and Israel during the aggression against Iran, the Iranian president described the strikes as violations of international law.
Pezeshkian said the theme of the UN gathering is rebuilding trust, arguing that trust could not be created through words alone and required an end to double standards.
‘Nuclear bomb in Israel, inspectors in Iran’
“Atomic bombs and other weapons of mass destruction in this region are in the hands of the Israeli regime; but inspections are requested from Iran! Israel massacred 70,000 people in Gaza, but Iran was bombed at the negotiating table! Israel has nuclear weapons, is not a member of the NPT, has never allowed a single inspector into the occupied territories throughout its disgraceful existence, but receives billions of dollars in free weapons as a reward and enjoys immunity to bomb any capital it wishes!”
Summarizing the tragic paradox of the current geopolitical landscape, Pezeshkian reiterated: "I repeat: the nuclear bomb is in Israel, but the inspectors are in Iran! Israel kills, but Iran is sanctioned!"
Pezeshkian underlined that if international law is enforced only when it suites powerful states, more countries would conclude that they could secure their safety only by relying on their own power.
“That will be the beginning of a more dangerous world for all of us,” he said.