Iran won't bow to US, Tehran studies American response to truce proposal

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Wednesday that his country will not submit to the United States, in his first address to the UN General Assembly since Washington and Israel began a war against the Islamic Republic in February. A senior Iranian official said Tehran is studying the American response to its proposal to end hostilities, but numerous differences remain between the two sides amid ongoing diplomatic efforts. Pezeshkian accused Washington of "terrorism" over the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the war's outset. He told US President Donald Trump that Iranian resistance will escalate against sanctions and pressure, stating "we will never bow our heads, and we will never kneel." He also said Iran will not allow the Strait of Hormuz to be used as a launchpad for aggression against it. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met US envoy Steve Witkoff on the UN General Assembly's sidelines, conveying Tehran's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including lifting the US naval blockade, releasing frozen assets, and ending the war on all resistance fronts. Meanwhile, Iranian airlines were forced to cancel international flights as tightened US sanctions on Iran's aviation sector took effect.