ERBIL () - Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian vowed on Tuesday to firmly defend his country's positions in international forums as he departed Tehran for New York to attend the 81st United Nations General Assembly, becoming the highest-ranking Iranian official to set foot on American soil since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran began the war on February 28, 2026.
"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,"Pezeshkian said before flying out of Iran, according to footage broadcast by Iranian state television. "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."
Pezeshkian is due to speak at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, in what will be the most high-profile Iranian statement to the international community since the conflict began. He will hold several meetings on the sidelines with heads of state and senior officials from various countries, as well as a separate meeting with Iranians residing in the United States and representatives of American research and academic institutions.
Iran's IRNA news agency confirmed that Pezeshkian was seen off in a formal ceremony on Tuesday morning by First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, Supreme Leader adviser for international affairs Mohsen Qomi, and a number of senior officials before departing for New York.
The United States approved the UN visit for part of the Iranian delegation despite the war, but the group will be subject to movement restrictions, according to the US State Department, with the same restrictions applied to Iranian delegations in previous years, including a ban on purchasing luxury goods or certain other products during their New York stay. However, the Iranian president's communications team was not authorized to travel, having been denied visas. Iranian presidential spokesman Habibollah Abbassi described the barring of the communications team as hostile, according to local media.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi simultaneously arrived in New York leading Iran's diplomatic delegation, making him alongside Pezeshkian among the most senior Iranian officials to visit the United States since the war began. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei confirmed on X after the delegation's arrival that Araghchi is leading Iran's diplomatic delegation at the General Assembly sessions. Iranian state television reported that upon arriving, Araghchi held a phone call with UN Secretary-General António Guterres to exchange views on the General Assembly's agenda. Baghaei confirmed that Araghchi will hold discussions and consultations with a large number of officials and foreign ministers participating in the current session.
Iranian media quoted Araghchi as saying: "Our important objective is to use this major international platform to defend the legitimate rights and interests of the Iranian people."
Araghchi had left Iran on Sunday evening and first traveled to Qatar, which has been playing a mediating role between Tehran and Washington throughout the conflict. Iran has announced that it transmitted its conditions for opening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping to the United States through Qatar, conditions that have not been met since the war began, while Washington simultaneously maintains a counterblockade of Iranian ports. Araghchi's stop in Doha before proceeding to New York suggests the Foreign Minister used the Qatar stopover to coordinate diplomatic messaging with Doha's mediators before arriving at the United Nations.
The reopening of the 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 all passage. In response, the United States is maintaining a counterblockade of Iranian ports while escalating economic pressure through Operation Economic Outcast.
The UNGA week places both Iran's president and foreign minister in New York simultaneously as the G7 foreign ministers issued a joint statement on Tuesday calling on Iran to stop arming and supporting the Houthis in Yemen, as Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi attends the same session with expected bilateral meetings on the militia disarmament deadline and the Iran-US mediation file, and as Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Emergency Command Headquarters issued its most severe military warning yet on Sunday threatening limitless attacks on all American positions in the region if the US strikes again.
The 81st General Assembly's high-level debate runs from Tuesday, September 22, through Saturday, September 28, under the theme Leaving No One Behind.
