Iranian president accuses US of 'terrorism' for assassinating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

IRAN’S PRESIDENT STRUCK a defiant tone at the UN on Wednesday where he spoke for the first time since Washington and Israel launched an all-out war on his country, vowing Tehran would never “bend at the knee.”

Masoud Pezeshkian accused Washington of “terrorism” for assassinating former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the conflict, insisting Tehran had never started a war.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump told the UN General Assembly that he was weighing whether to “annihilate” Iran but went on to hail renewed talks between Tehran and Washington’s negotiators.

Pezeshkian made no reference to the talks to resolve the stalled war in his steely speech.

“(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.