Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has vowed to defend Tehran’s position at the United Nations as he travelled to New York for the UN General Assembly.
Pezeshkian, who is due to address the General Assembly on Wednesday, said Iran would use the platform to present its position to the international community.
“We will firmly defend our positions in international forums,” he said before departing Iran, according to footage broadcast by state television.
He said Iran would seek to highlight what he described as the injustices faced by the country and demonstrate that its people had remained resilient.
“We will make the best possible use of this opportunity to convey Iran’s plight to the international community,” he said.
Pezeshkian’s visit makes him the highest-ranking Iranian official to travel to the United States since the Middle East war began in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, according to the report.
The United States has approved UN travel for part of the Iranian delegation despite the conflict, although the State Department said the delegation would face movement restrictions.
Members of Pezeshkian’s communications team were denied visas and will not travel with him. Iranian presidential spokesman Habibollah Abbassi described the decision as “hostile”, according to Iranian media.
Meanwhile, the status of the strategic Strait of Hormuz remains a major point of contention between Tehran and Washington.
Traffic through the maritime corridor, which carried about one-fifth of global hydrocarbon flows before the war, has been severely disrupted amid the conflict.
Iran has fired on commercial vessels and demanded approval for passage, according to the report, while the United States has maintained a counterblockade of Iranian ports and increased economic pressure on Tehran.
