Iran's President Is Heading to the UN While the War Goes On
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian left Tehran on Tuesday morning, 22 September 2026, for New York to attend the UN General Assembly. Al Jazeera
He was joined by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and other officials. Araghchi got to New York earlier. The group will stay five days and return to Tehran on Saturday. Pezeshkian will speak to the General Assembly, the big yearly meeting of all 193 UN countries, on Wednesday.
Before he left, Pezeshkian said he would firmly defend Iran's positions. He said talks in New York would focus on regional realities. Iranian presidency He said Iran will talk about the suffering of the Iranian people, crimes against them, and distrust that has been created.
Araghchi said his main goal in side meetings will be to defend the rights and interests of the Iranian people. Pezeshkian also plans to meet Iranian people living abroad, experts, think tanks and reporters.
Tehran plans to raise two wartime claims: the Minab school bombing and the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war.
A U.S. missile strike on February 28 destroyed the all-girls Al-Shajara School in Minab. It killed 175 people, including 47 schoolgirls and 26 teachers. U.S. investigators said American forces hit the school by mistake because of old intelligence. They noted the school sat next to an Iranian naval base.
The war started by the U.S. and Israel on Iran on February 28 is still going on. Problems with shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway oil ships use, have affected global energy prices. Washington is adding economic pressure through sanctions, which are economic punishments, and a naval blockade on southern Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, which means using warships to block ships.
The fighting has not stopped for talks. U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier that week he was thinking about a new major military attack on Iran while wanting to hear from Arab leaders.
Getting in was also disputed. On September 17, the Trump administration said top Iranian officials will be allowed to attend the General Assembly, and approved visas for top leaders. Reuters Iran's delegation in 2026 will be smaller than in past years. Al Jazeera
The U.S. denied visas to Pezeshkian's traveling media team, according to Iran's president's office. Washington put tight limits on where the delegation can move in the U.S. and barred them from buying luxury goods.
The main speeches of the 81st General Assembly will run from Tuesday, 22 September to Saturday, 26 September, and on Monday, 28 September 2026. UN General Debate The theme is "Restoring trust, managing transformation".
The broader context here is that the Assembly works like both a courtroom and a hallway for private talks. For Iran, it offers an open stage to put civilian deaths and the targeting of its leader into the written record, with word-by-word transcripts and worldwide broadcast.
In my view, the schedule around the visit matters as much as the speeches. Araghchi arrived first. A five-day stay and meetings with people living abroad, experts and reporters point to a push for side talks while formal Council action stays blocked.
Looking at what this means for the next phase, Wednesday's speech will set the public terms, but private side meetings will decide if any channel to calm things stays open. With a blockade in place, shipping disrupted and talk in Washington of a new attack, the room for misunderstanding is small. New York gives closeness. It does not give safety from the forces driving the war.
