TEHRAN: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday vowed to “firmly defend” his country’s positions, as he departed for New York to attend the UN General Assembly.
“We emerged with our heads held high, and this is a source of dignity and pride for all of us. Therefore, we will firmly defend our positions in international forums,” he said before flying out of Iran, according to footage broadcast by state television.
The Iranian president is due to speak at the UN meeting on Wednesday.
“We will make the best possible use of this opportunity to convey Iran’s plight to the international community. We will firmly tell our adversaries that, despite all the unfairness and injustices, the Iranian people have stood their ground,” he said.
Pezeshkian will be the highest-ranking Iranian official to set foot on American soil since the start of the Middle East war, which began in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The United States has approved the UN visits for part of the Iranian delegation despite the war, but the group will be subject to movement restrictions, according to the US State Department.
The Iranian president’s communications team have not been authorised to travel, however, having been denied visas.
Their barring was described as “hostile” by Iranian presidential spokesperson Habibollah Abbassi, according to local media.
The reopening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz remains at the heart of the conflict between Tehran and Washington.
Traffic in the vital maritime corridor, through which one-fifth of the world’s hydrocarbons passed before the war, has been severely disrupted, with Iran firing on commercial ships and demanding it approve passage.
In response, the United States is maintaining a counterblockade of Iranian ports while upping economic pressure on Iran.
Araghchi speaks with UN chief
Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in New York for the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, Iranian state media reported.
Araghchi spoke by phone with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres after his arrival on Monday and exchanged views on the agenda of the UN General Assembly, Iranian state television reported.
“Our most important objective is to use a major international platform to defend the legitimacy, rights, and interests of the Iranian people,” Araghchi was quoted as telling Iranian journalists.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Aragchi “will hold talks and consultations with numerous officials and foreign ministers attending the session.”
State media had previously reported that the Iranian delegation would be led by Pezeshkian. Baqaei described Aragchi as the “head of a diplomatic delegation” in a post on X after his arrival.
Araghchi left Iran on Sunday evening and had a stopover in Qatar.
Iran says it has conveyed to the US, via Qatar as mediator, conditions for reopening the strategic Strait of Hormuz oil and gas shipping route.
