Iran's president vows firm UN defense amid US visa dispute

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed Tuesday to "firmly defend" his country's positions as he departed for the UN General Assembly in New York, where he is due to speak Wednesday. Pezeshkian will be the highest-ranking Iranian official to visit American soil since the Middle East war began in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran. The US approved UN visits for part of the delegation with movement restrictions, but denied visas to the president's communications team, a move Iran called "hostile." The conflict centers on the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has fired on commercial ships and demanded passage approval, disrupting one-fifth of the world's pre-war hydrocarbons traffic. The US maintains a counterblockade of Iranian ports while increasing economic pressure.