President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran has condemned the “savage” US and Israeli airstrikes of June on Iranian territory during his speech at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Iranian president told the audience at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday that it was a “heavy blow” to international trust and regional peace.
The president said the attacks, which struck Iranian cities, homes, and infrastructure while diplomatic talks were ongoing, represented “a grave betrayal of diplomacy and a weakening of efforts to establish peace and stability.”
“What you see in these images of killings and crimes is the massacre of children and women. It is a black record of slaughter carried out by Israel in our country against our people, including women, children, and youth, under the name of preserving peace and security in the region,” he said, holding out pictures of the victims.
Pezeshkian underscored Iran’s resilience, saying the country was “the world’s oldest continuous civilization” that has withstood the storms of history.
“Despite the harshest, longest, and heaviest economic sanctions, psychological warfare, media campaigns, and constant efforts to sow division, the Iranian people, from the very first bullet fired at their soil, stood united behind their brave armed forces, and today they continue to honor the blood of their martyrs,” he said.
The Iranian president said the strikes killed commanders, women, children, scientists, and national elites, while also damaging internationally-monitored facilities. He said the strikes constitute “a black record of crimes” carried out under the pretext of preserving regional security.
Israel and the United States have shed the blood of thousands of innocent people in Gaza with the same approach, he said. Pezeshkian accused Washington and Tel Aviv of deliberately undermining negotiations through military escalation.
The president stated that the foundation of all divine religions and human conscience is the golden rule: “Do not do unto others what you would not want done unto yourself.”
“Let us look at the past two years: the world has witnessed genocide in Gaza; the destruction of homes and repeated violations of sovereignty and territorial integrity in Lebanon; the devastation of Syria’s infrastructure; attacks on the people of Yemen; the forced starvation of emaciated children in their mothers’ arms; the stealthy assault on the sovereignty of nations, violations of states’ territorial integrity, and the open targeting of national leaders.”
“Would you accept such things for yourselves?”
The Iranian president denounced what he called the “absurd and delusional” plan for a “Greater Israel,” accusing Israel of pursuing aggression and apartheid under the guise of “peace through power.”
“Today, after nearly two years of genocide, mass starvation, the continuation of apartheid inside the occupied territories, and aggression against neighboring countries, the absurd and delusional plan of a ‘Greater Israel’ is being shamelessly declared at the highest levels of this regime.”
The Iranian president outlined an alternative vision for West Asia, calling for a “strong region” built on collective security, cultural diversity, joint investment in infrastructure and science, energy security, environmental protection, and the non-negotiable principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He also reiterated Iran’s longstanding support for a West Asia free of weapons of mass destruction, criticizing nuclear-armed states for violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) while pressuring Iran with “baseless accusations.”
[ SOURCE: PRESS TV and NEWS AGENCIES ]
