Iran's President to Address UN General Assembly Amid Ongoing Conflict with US

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will address the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, marking a rare wartime appearance by a foreign leader while his country is at war with the host nation, the United States. His speech follows President Donald Trump's Tuesday remarks suggesting he might "annihilate" Iran if no deal ends the nearly seven-month conflict. Trump reported that his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held about three hours of indirect talks with Iranian officials on the sidelines, calling the meeting "very good," though Tehran downplayed the exchange as "not anything new." Iran's Foreign Ministry reiterated demands for Washington to end its blockade of Iranian ports and release frozen assets, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump is open to meeting Pezeshkian. The address comes after more than a year of start-stop negotiations failed to produce a solution, with intermittent attacks continuing in the Strait of Hormuz and commercial shipping below prewar levels. Pezeshkian's previous speech followed the 12-day Israel-Iran war that killed many of Iran's top military and political leaders.