Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told world leaders on Wednesday that Iran had been a victim of terrorism, condemning US and Israeli strikes and calling for international cooperation to achieve lasting peace and stability.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, Pezeshkian focused on the February 28 strike on an elementary school in Minab, southern Iran, which Iranian officials said killed at least 120 children and 26 teachers.
“They were innocent, had committed no crimes,” Pezeshkian said, referring to the victims.
He said the school was struck with weapons used by the United States and Israel, describing Iran as a victim of terrorism.
The US Department of Defence said earlier this month that its investigation into the incident was still ongoing.
A UN fact-finding mission concluded earlier in September that the school strike may have amounted to a war crime. The White House, however, said Iran was the only party in the conflict that had committed war crimes.
Pezeshkian also rejected pressure on Iran, saying sanctions and what he described as bullying would strengthen the resistance of the Iranian people.
Referencing US President Donald Trump’s UN address on Tuesday, the Iranian president said military power should not replace legitimacy, while war and coercion should not take the place of dialogue and diplomacy.
“We must not build a world in which military power replaces legitimacy, terrorism replaces politics and negotiations, and war replaces dialogue and diplomacy,” he said.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not submit to such pressure and urged countries to work together towards what he described as “true peace and stability.”
He said Iran was extending its hand to the international community from a position of strength and a belief in cooperation, warning that countries in the region could not achieve lasting security individually.
“Either we will build it together, or we will have to live under insecurity together,” he said.
The Iranian president called for a future where security, fairness, justice and human dignity would be recognised as rights for all people.
