Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivers a rare “wartime” address at the United Nations, framing Iran’s situation as being caused by terrorism committed by the United States. In the speech, he uses the language of victimhood and portrays Iran as responding to external violence rather than initiating it.
According to outlets that report details from the address, Pezeshkian displays large photographs associated with Iran’s leadership and highlights deaths of Iranian children in early fighting. Stuff.co.nz reports he references more than 150 Iranian schoolchildren killed in the first days of the war and shows images including those of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The Belfast Telegraph and The Independent similarly describe the speech as a defiant message that uses “victims of terrorism” rhetoric aimed at the US.
Across the coverage, the shared focus is the unusual framing of the speech as wartime and the explicit attribution of responsibility to the United States. Differences mainly concern the specific references and images mentioned, rather than the core claims of the speech.
