New Iranian President, Speaking at UN, Attempts To Whitewash Tehran’s Aggression Even as Blinken Spells Out Its Military Ties to Russia

As President Milei of Argentina used the podium at the United Nations General Assembly to rebuke the world organization like almost no other before him, his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, employed some of the tactics that the Argentine warned against.Mr. Milei, a firebrand if there ever was one, started out by praising the UN for succeeding, during the first years of its existence, in reversing the mindset of two world wars, ushering in 70 years of peace and prosperity. Yet, he added, “an organization that had essentially been thought up as a shield to protect the reign of men, became a leviathan with various tentacles purporting to decide not only what each nation state should do, but also how all the citizens in the world should live.”President Wilson’s dream of “peace without victory” and cooperation among nations, Mr. Millei said, “has been replaced by a model of supranational government, of international bureaucrats that attempt to impose on citizens of the world a specific way of living.”In the house that “purports to defend human rights,” he said, “we have also included bloody dictatorships in the Human Rights Council, including Cuba and Venezuela.” UN organs that claim to defend the rights of women allow as members “countries that punish their women just for showing their skin.”Also, the Argentine said, “in this same house that had voted against the state of Israel, which is the only country in the Middle East to defend a liberal democracy, we have simultaneously shown a total inability to respond to the scourge of terrorism.”Not long after that speech, Mr. Pezeshkian did his best to embody Mr. Milei’s worst predictions for the UN’s future. “Iran has never initiated a war,” the frontman for a regime that backs proxy armies and terrorist groups to attack Saudis, Kurds, and Israelis, to name a few, said. Iran “has only defended itself heroically against external aggression, causing the aggressors to regret their actions. Iran has never occupied the territory of any nation,” and it has offered its neighbors nothing but proposals “aimed at establishing lasting peace and stability,” he said.In a separate room, Secretary Blinken addressed the Security Council during a meeting on Ukraine. There, he said that Tehran provides President Putin “with drones, ballistic missiles, and training,” while “Russia is sharing technology with Iran on nuclear issues, as well as space information.”Mr. Pezeshkian, though, set his eyes on a country that Tehan, along with a growing number of capitals, considers a terrorist state, saying: “Naturally, blind Israeli state terrorism over the past few days in Lebanon cannot go unanswered.” To end a “70 year-old nightmare in West Asia,” Mr. Pezeshkian said, “we propose that all people of Palestine, both those who live in their motherland as well as those who have been forced into its diaspora, determine their future in a referendum.” That way, he added, “we can achieve a lasting peace with Muslims, Christians, and Jews.”As he repackaged the Islamic Republic’s dream of erasing the Jewish state, Mr. Pezeshkian also railed against America even as he proposed negotiations over renewal of the 2015 nuclear deal. Specifically, he decried American sanctions on Iran, which he said are “not only a blatant violation of human rights, but also constitute a crime against humanity.” Such rhetoric is enough to get a Buenos Aires man to wonder about the purpose of the UN. Mr. Milei left the podium by uttering one of the most endearing speech-ending phrases: “Long live freedom, g–damn it.”

New Iranian President, Speaking at UN, Attempts To Whitewash Tehran’s Aggression Even as Blinken Spells Out Its Military Ties to Russia

New Iranian President, Speaking at UN, Attempts To Whitewash Tehran’s Aggression Even as Blinken Spells Out Its Military Ties to Russia

More from the New York Sun

Harry and Meghan Frozen Out of King Charles’s Christmas, Skewered on ‘Saturday Night Live’ — and Book ‘Royal-Style’ Rollout

Barring ‘Cruel and Abusive Behavior’ Toward AI Chatbots Is an Attack on Human Dignity

Golden State Seeks To Win WNBA Title in Just Its Second Season

Gibney’s Elon Musk Documentary Packs a Punch But Is More Retweet Than Revelation

Zelensky Credits Ukrainian Attacks on Data Centers With Reducing Bots on Social Media

‘UN’s Is At Lowest Point Since 1947,’ John Bolton Tells the Sun — Reflecting America’s Discontent With Global Institutions

GOP Lawmakers Revolt Over Plan To Livestream Fort Hood Shooter’s Execution

Mahmoud Abbas’s ‘Crime Against Democracy’

More from the New York Sun

Harry and Meghan Frozen Out of King Charles’s Christmas, Skewered on ‘Saturday Night Live’ — and Book ‘Royal-Style’ Rollout

Barring ‘Cruel and Abusive Behavior’ Toward AI Chatbots Is an Attack on Human Dignity

Golden State Seeks To Win WNBA Title in Just Its Second Season

Gibney’s Elon Musk Documentary Packs a Punch But Is More Retweet Than Revelation

Zelensky Credits Ukrainian Attacks on Data Centers With Reducing Bots on Social Media

‘UN’s Is At Lowest Point Since 1947,’ John Bolton Tells the Sun — Reflecting America’s Discontent With Global Institutions

GOP Lawmakers Revolt Over Plan To Livestream Fort Hood Shooter’s Execution

Mahmoud Abbas’s ‘Crime Against Democracy’