Iran's president blames U.S., Israel for global instability in defiant UN speech

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a defiant speech to the United Nations on Wednesday blamed the U.S. and Israel for stoking global instability while accusing them of launching illegal attacks on his country's civilians and infrastructure.

The address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York City was a fiery rebuke to President Donald Trump , who told the U.N. a day earlier that he was weighing whether to "annihilate" Iran after nearly seven months at war.

It also contradicted Trump's insistent narrative that Iran desperately seeks a peace deal, and that one is likely to come right after the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Trump was not present at the U.N. on Wednesday; he returned to Washington overnight in advance of Chinese President Xi Jinping 's arrival for a state visit .