{
  "id": 9365085,
  "title": "Pezeshkian says Iran will not surrender after Trump's annihilation threat",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/pezeshkian-says-iran-will-not-surrender-after-trumps-annihilation",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-23T15:32:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn",
    "slug": "dawn",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2032120/pezeshkian-says-iran-will-not-surrender-after-trumps-annihilation-threat"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the United Nations and declared that Iran would never surrender to the United States, despite US President Donald Trump's threat to \"annihilate\" Iran at the same forum. The confrontational speeches were delivered during the first shuttle talks between the US and Iran in months, which did not result in any concessions in the public stance of either side towards ending the Middle East conflict. Pezeshkian defended Iran's military actions as defensive and insisted that Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons. The president spoke at the UN for the first time since Washington and Israel launched an all-out war on his country, vowing that Tehran would never \"bend at the knee\". He criticized Washington for \"terrorism\" following the assassination of former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and displayed a photograph of the deceased leader before asserting that Tehran had never initiated a war. On Tuesday, Trump had suggested the possibility of annihilating Iran but subsequently endorsed ongoing negotiations between Tehran and Washington's negotiators. Pezeshkian did not mention the talks to resolve the war in his speech. He emphasized that the Iranian people would only grow in resistance to sanctions, heightened pressure, and bullying, and vowed that Iran would not bend its head or bow its knee. Pezeshkian asserted that Tehran would not allow the Strait of Hormuz, intermittently blockaded since the start of the war, to be utilized for aggression against his country. The president's attendance at the UN event, where visas were initially uncertain, was seen as an indirect response to the escalating conflict. Iran and US officials reportedly held indirect talks on the sidelines for the first time since the ceasefire collapsed in July, facilitated by a Qatari mediator. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed that Tehran had conveyed conditions to Washington, including an end to the war and cessation of US aggression. Some Iranian state media, however, reported that Araghchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had met face-to-face, though Iranian officials clarified that it was not a direct encounter. The diplomatic outreach in New York drew a backlash from Iranian media affiliated with hardliners, who accused Araghchi of making a \"major gift to Trump\" by engaging in talks with the American negotiators.",
  "summary": "Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a speech at the United Nations on Wednesday that Tehran would never surrender to the United States but still believes in diplomacy, a day after US President Donald Trump used the same forum to threaten to “annihilate” Iran. The duelling speeches at the annual UN General Assembly in New York bookended the first shuttle talks between the US and Iran for…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}