United Nations: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian struck a defiant note at the United Nations on Wednesday, saying Tehran would not yield to US pressure as he addressed the world body for the first time since Washington and Israel launched an all-out war against Iran.

Pezeshkian accused Washington of “terrorism” over the killing of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the conflict and insisted that Iran had never initiated a war.

His remarks came a day after US President Donald Trump told the UN General Assembly that he was considering whether to “annihilate” Iran, while also saying that talks between US and Iranian negotiators had resumed.

Pezeshkian did not mention those talks in his address.

“(Trump) must know that the resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying. We will never bow our head or bend at the knee,” he said.

The Iranian president also rejected the use of the Strait of Hormuz as leverage against Tehran. The waterway has been at the centre of the conflict, with disruptions to shipping contributing to a rise in global energy prices.

“We cannot let some have free access and bolster their interests from the waterway, while at the same time using that waterway to impose their aggression upon us,” he said.

Pezeshkian’s appearance at the UN General Assembly had been uncertain after questions arose over whether Washington would issue him a visa. The United States eventually granted the permit but denied visas to several members of his delegation.

The conflict and its impact on fuel prices have also become a domestic issue in the United States, with higher energy costs posing a challenge for Trump’s Republican Party ahead of November’s midterm elections. Trump, however, has sought to play down the domestic impact of the war.

AI and Ukraine also dominate UN agenda

Artificial intelligence is also expected to feature prominently at the UN on Wednesday, following growing international concern over the risks associated with rapidly advancing AI systems.

The CEOs of OpenAI, Anthropic and Hugging Face — Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Clement Delangue — are scheduled to brief the 15-member UN Security Council, the world body's principal security organ.

Trump, in his UN address on Tuesday, rejected calls for international regulation of AI and described such proposals as a “globalist scheme”.

“The very same people who said we'll all be dead in 12 years because of global warming... are now saying that AI is going to kill us all,” Trump said.

Russia’s war in Ukraine is also due to feature in Wednesday’s UN discussions. The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Ukraine, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to address the General Assembly.

After meeting Trump on Tuesday, Zelensky said Washington and Kyiv wanted the war with Russia to end within months. He also said he was prepared to halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure if Moscow agreed to do the same.

Pezeshkian’s remarks come amid continued diplomatic activity surrounding the US-Iran conflict. Reports from the UN gathering said Iranian and US representatives had held indirect discussions in New York, while Iran has also indicated conditions under which it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz.