Defiant Iran Responds to Trump – Consortium News

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Donald Trump Iran will never stop resisting U.S. terror.

A day after Donald Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran, the Islamic Republic’s president told Trump from the same U.N. General Assembly podium that he “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.” Unable to bear the description of America’s crimes, the U.S. representative stormed out of the hall in protest.

The following are excerpts from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s U.N. address on Tuesday:

The United States President described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism.

I come from an Iran in which our esteemed Supreme Leader was assassinated without any legal framework or reason.

I come from an Iran where, in truth, they bombed a school.
You see these children?

These children perished under bombs, with weapons used by the United States and Israel.

They were innocent, had committed no crimes.

Lamerd, one of the small cities in a province in Iran, a sports hall where children were busy playing.

The United States, by using weapons with multiple warheads, targeted that sports hall.

They martyred, assassinated, our scientists, our men, women, and children. Innocent children who, in truth, had committed no crimes, no sins.

Those who are terrorists and train and protect terrorists describe us as such.

We have only defended ourselves.

We are not terrorists.

Our innocent people have been the targets of cowardly attacks and aggressions imposed upon our country, and we defended ourselves with utmost strength.

America and Israel attacked us, equipped with the latest technology and weapons systems, and our people stood steadfast.

Yes, they did hit us, but we did not bend the knee.

We did not bow our head.

We responded, but we did not hit civilian populations.

They came into surrounding territories and targeted our universities, our healthcare centers, our schools, our hospitals, our infrastructures — all of it against international law.

Whomever they wish to discredit, they label them as terrorists.

Two hundred years — for the past two centuries —  Iran has not attacked any country or any territory, but we’ve always defended ourselves steadfastly.

But now we’re being accused of being source of instability in the region?

We’re labeled terrorists?

And this has made it so that the path that we have chosen for ourselves requires power to defend ourselves.

We do not seek power in order to attack or commit aggression.
We seek energy for progress, not to threaten societies with weapons. …

Resistance cannot be destroyed by bombs and siege.
This is human nature.

If a human being is driven from his or her land, they will resist.
If their homes are subjected to bombings and aggression and attacks, they will resist.

What other choice do they have?

Succomb to bullying?

To be driven from their homes, from their lands, and remain silent in the face of these threats and dangers?

And when they defend themselves, they’re labeled as terrorists?
The language makes it, unfortunately, clear the type of world that we’re living in today.

Our regional issues must be resolved in the region, at the hands of the countries in the region, without becoming a toy in the hands of outside aggressors. …

And now, a few words for those who are responsible for having planned and carried out aggressions against our country and our people have experienced firsthand the result of their deadly aggression.

And they have tested the strength and the steadfastness of Iran, and they have learned that Iran cannot be made to surrender.

Iran has never, ever been an aggressor, has never started a war, and has always shown her commitment to the negotiating table.

They imposed the war on us, but we proved — we have proven — that we’re not afraid of fighting, of war, a war that is defensive in nature.

And we will stand in defense of our beloved Iran, our homeland, until our last breath. …

Atomic and nuclear bombs are in the hands of the Israeli regime, but the inspectors are requested to come to Iran.

Israel has murdered savagely over 70,000 innocents in Gaza, but Iran, while behind the table of negotiation, was bombed.

Israel has the bombs, has weapons of mass destruction, not a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty during her shameful life has not allowed a single inspection.

But they are rewarded by all the means necessary for them to be able to bomb any capital in the region at will.

I will repeat: the nuclear weapon is in Israel, but the inspectors are in Iran.

Israel kills, but Iran is subject to sanctions.

This is a true tragedy, which would make anyone hearing it laugh, at best.

They kill, we are sanctioned, we are punished.

Those who are ill, innocent people, the poor, the least privileged in our society, are the targets of these sanctions.

This is what the United States seeks to do with all countries: to sacrifice the population of a country in order to achieve her illegitimate goals.

If we seek true peace and stability, we must apply a single standard for all.

Iran does not seek special treatment.

We seek equal rights.

We assume the responsibility, accept the responsibility that comes with it.

But Iran, during her prideful history, has learned the following lesson: a world without power is dangerous, but a world that only understands the language of war and bullyism will not be safe.

When we seek to have agendas … that only adhere to the benefits of a few privileged, we will have a world in disarray. …

We must not allow the 21st century to go back to an era of only the powerful and the bullying powers and the hegemons.  We must not build a world in which military power replaces legitimacy, terrorism replaces politics and negotiations, and war replaces dialogue and diplomacy.

Iran extends her hand towards the world. We invite the world. We call the world, not out of weakness, but out of a deep belief in our own power and steadfastness, to cooperate and collaborate.

Because of a deep belief that no one in this region will have security alone. Either we will build it together, or we will have to live under insecurity together. …

Going back to the words of the President of the United States yesterday shows those who are experts in international law and dialogue and diplomacy and basic human standards that everything [he said] about our country goes against the very essence and charter and spirit of the United Nations.

He 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.

Iran must be understood by Mr. Trump and those who seek to bully us that we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force.