Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking at the UN General Assembly session in New York, sharply responded to US President Donald Trump's accusations that Iran was a terrorist state. The US representative present in the hall left during Pezeshkian's speech.

"The US president called us [i.e. Iran] terrorists. We ourselves were victims of terrorism," Pezeshkian said. He accused the US and Israel of carrying out strikes on Iranian territory and said that Iranian civilians, including children, had been killed in these attacks. "I represent Iran, where a school was actually bombed. Do you see these children?

These children were killed by bombs, by weapons used by the United States and Israel,” the Iranian president said, addressing the audience. Pezeshkian added that a gymnasium in a small Iranian town was hit, where children were. Also, he accused the US and Israel of killing Iranian scientists, soldiers, women, and children.

“They were innocent, they did not commit any crime,” the Iranian president added. Pezeshkian called the situation hypocritical when, in his assessment, those who carry out terrorist acts and train supporters of terrorism call Iran a terrorist state. “We only defended ourselves.

We are not terrorists,” the Iranian president said. Also, he stated that Iran’s civilians have become the target of “cowardly attacks and aggression” against Iran, and again presented Tehran’s actions as self-defense. Pezeshkian's speech came a day after US president Trump's speech at the UN General Assembly session.

The American leader had sharply criticized Iran and stated that Washington could continue its military action if Tehran did not come to an agreement.