Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, has reaffirmed that his country has no intention of developing a nuclear bomb, stressing that Tehran has never sought such weapons.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Pezeshkian declared:
“The bedrock of all divine religions and of the human conscience is this golden maxim: that which you would not approve for yourself, do not approve for others.”
His remarks followed months after the United States carried out airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The June strikes, announced by US President Donald Trump on social media, were aimed at weakening nuclear capabilities in the Middle East. Iran responded with missile attacks on US forces at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
Pezeshkian condemned the strikes as “a savage aggression in flagrant contravention of the most elementary principles of international law,” describing them as “a grave betrayal of diplomacy and a subversion of efforts towards the establishment of stability and peace.” He warned that failing to confront such breaches of international norms could embolden further violations globally.
The Iranian leader also criticised what he called “the ludicrous and delusional scheme of a Greater Israel,” accusing it of imposing genocide, destruction, and instability across the region. “In such a strong region, slaughter and bloodshed shall find no place,” he added.
Reiterating Iran’s long-standing stance, Pezeshkian said his country advocates for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction. He accused nuclear-armed states of hypocrisy, stating:
“Those who themselves possess the largest nuclear arsenals and who, in flagrant breach of the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty), make their weapons even deadlier and more destructive have for years subjected our people to pressures on the basis of spurious allegations.”
His address came a week after the UN Security Council rejected a resolution seeking to lift pre-2015 sanctions on Iran linked to its nuclear programme.
