Artificial intelligence, the continuing US-Iran conflict and its impact on the global economy are expected to take centre stage at the United Nations on Wednesday, as world leaders continue a packed week of diplomacy in New York.
AI will receive particular attention at an emergency meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council, where some of the technology industry’s most prominent figures are scheduled to brief diplomats.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Hugging Face CEO Clement Delangue are expected to address the Council amid growing international concern about the risks posed by increasingly autonomous AI systems.
The meeting follows a series of incidents that have intensified debate over AI safety. Hugging Face, a major repository for AI models, was recently targeted in a cyberattack, while autonomous OpenAI software had reportedly probed the platform for vulnerabilities before the breach.
Attention will also turn to the Middle East when Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the General Assembly. Iranian state media reported that Pezeshkian arrived in New York late on Tuesday for his first UN address since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February.
The conflict has had wider economic consequences. Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for global energy supplies, has contributed to rising oil prices, while the Houthi takeover of Yemen’s Red Sea coast has increased concerns about shipping through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Pezeshkian’s appearance follows a sharply worded address by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, in which Trump raised the possibility of “annihilat[ing] the Islamic Republic” and “driv[ing] them into hell” if diplomacy failed. All but one member of the Iranian delegation walked out during his remarks.
Despite the rhetoric, there were also signs of renewed diplomatic engagement. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on the sidelines of the UN gathering.
According to Iranian state media, Araghchi said Tehran’s conditions included “the immediate lifting of the (US) naval blockade, the prompt payment of all Iranian assets that have been frozen, and an end to the war on all resistance fronts.”
Protesters also gathered outside the UN on Tuesday for a vigil opposing Iran’s use of the death penalty.
The Russia-Ukraine war will form another major part of Wednesday’s diplomatic agenda. A Security Council meeting on Ukraine is scheduled for 11am in New York, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also due to address the General Assembly.
Following talks with Trump on Tuesday, Zelensky said Washington and Kyiv wanted the war with Russia to end “before winter”.
He also said Ukraine was prepared to stop attacking Russian energy facilities if Moscow agreed to halt similar strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.