UNITED NATIONS: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday that Tehran would never surrender to the United States but remained committed to diplomacy, a day after US President Donald Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran in his UN General Assembly speech.
The contrasting statements came as the two countries held their first indirect talks in months, with no apparent change in their public positions on ending the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, Pezeshkian defended Iran’s military actions as defensive and reiterated that Tehran was not seeking nuclear weapons.
Tensions also rose over new US sanctions targeting Iranian civilian aviation. Tehran warned that it could take action against neighbouring countries that comply with Washington’s measures aimed at grounding Iranian civilian flights worldwide.
The United States has said it will impose secondary sanctions on countries that allow Iranian flights to operate after Wednesday.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told Iranian state television that Tehran would ensure airports in neighbouring countries could not operate if they prevented Iranian flights from using their airspace and facilities.
The UN gathering on Tuesday provided an opportunity for Iranian and US officials to hold their first known indirect discussions since a ceasefire collapsed in July.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi communicated with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner through mediators on the sidelines of the General Assembly.
Trump later said the talks had been productive and expressed hope that they could lead to an agreement.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran had communicated with Washington through a Qatari mediator and presented conditions that included an end to the conflict on all fronts and a halt to what Iran described as US acts of aggression.
Some Iranian state media outlets initially reported that Araqchi and Witkoff had met in person. Iranian officials later clarified to Reuters that the discussions were conducted indirectly through intermediaries.