Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian left Tehran for New York on Tuesday to attend the 81st United Nations General Assembly, where he says he will defend Iran’s positions and highlight what Tehran describes as the hardships facing its people and the wider region.

Speaking at a press conference before his departure on Tuesday, Pezeshkian said the UN gathering provides Iran with an opportunity to present its views to the international community.
“We will defend our positions with strength at international forums,” he said.

Pezeshkian said he would meet politicians, cultural figures and media representatives during his visit and discuss issues including regional conflicts, international law and what he described as violations of commitments made to Iran during previous negotiations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is already in New York. He arrived on Monday ahead of the General Assembly and is expected to hold talks and consultations with foreign officials during the UN gathering.

Araghchi has said Iran’s main objective at the UN is to defend the rights and interests of the Iranian people and use the gathering as a platform for diplomacy.

The Iranian delegation’s presence comes amid ongoing tensions between Tehran and Washington.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday that Iran was prepared to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eased military pressure and lifted its blockade of Iranian ports. The official said the Iranian delegation in New York had full authority to pursue diplomatic discussions.

Pezeshkian meanwhile said Iran had repeatedly entered negotiations and agreements only to see the other side fail to honour its commitments. He argued that lasting peace and security required respect for the rights of nations and individuals.

He also criticised military actions and developments in Gaza and other parts of the Middle East, saying attacks on civilians and public facilities could not simply be justified as counter-terrorism measures.

Pezeshkian is expected to address the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. His visit comes as the United States and Iran remain at odds over the conflict and the possibility of renewed diplomacy.

The Iranian president has said his trip will be aimed at presenting Iran’s position, explaining developments in the region and conveying what he called the message of the Iranian people to the international community.

G7 foreign ministers on Monday called on ​Iran to end its ‌arming and support of Houthis in Yemen, which they said constituted ​a dangerous pattern of ​escalation that risked undermining international trade ⁠and creating global instability, Reuters reported.

“We ​condemn in the strongest terms ​the unacceptable continued strikes carried out by the Houthis in Yemen and ​against the Kingdom of Saudi ​Arabia,” the ministers of Britain, Canada, ‌France, ⁠Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States said in a statement after a meeting on ​the sidelines ​of ⁠the United Nations General Assembly, read the report.

“We call on the ​Houthis to immediately cease ​all ⁠military actions, all threats and attacks against civilian shipping, and ⁠to ​return to the ​political process in good faith.”

Iran and the United States exchanged new threats on Sunday, with President Donald Trump warning Iran would fail ‌economically or face its leadership being wiped out if it didn’t make a deal, and the Iranian military saying it would retaliate harshly to any fresh attack.

The conflict has looked stalemated for months, with no sign either side was ready for concessions even as it has deepened a global energy crisis, cratered swathes of Iran’s economy and spilled over into new regional escalations, Reuters reported.

In a ​phone call with a Fox News reporter, Trump said Iran’s leaders should make a deal, rot economically or be wiped out, the reporter said.

However, ​with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian expected in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly, Trump said he would ⁠be open to meeting him, the Fox reporter added.

Trump has repeatedly made vague threats of major military escalations during the conflict that began with US and Israeli ​strikes on February 28, without carrying them out.

Earlier, Iran’s military central command said any new attack would trigger sustained retaliation against US bases and interests and that ​Washington’s regional allies would be considered parties to the conflict.

The Iranian military added that it had information that an attack was being prepared, without elaborating on what that information might be.

HOUTHIS TARGET RIYADH

US Gulf allies have already been badly scarred by a war that the US and Israel launched with no warning, bringing their cities under Iranian fire and hammering their economies with the ​crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway blockaded.

On Saturday their predicament worsened further, with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group launching missile and drone strikes at the Saudi capital after having ​made sudden military gains in Yemen’s reignited civil war earlier this month.

Reuters video showed a massive plume of black smoke billowing from the area of Riyadh’s main international airport following booms ‌overnight.

The US ⁠State Department issued a security alert citing the Houthi hostilities. It said there was potential for unforeseen escalation in the Middle East, and Americans should exercise more vigilance and be aware of possible flight cancellations and airspace closures.

Saudi Arabia did not comment on the incident, though a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it had foiled other attacks on the kingdom.

Recent escalation by the Houthis has forced Riyadh into a painful dilemma: continue airstrikes on the group to stop it seizing more Yemeni ​territory or step back in the hopes ​of averting drone strikes on critical ⁠infrastructure.

ENERGY EXPORTS BLOCKADED

The Houthi gains along the coast mean the group’s forces now sit on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, giving them easier control over shipping travelling between the Red Sea and Asia and the ability to blockade the crucial waterway.

With Iran already ​having blockaded most shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the oil-rich Gulf’s energy exports are now almost entirely cut ​off from global markets, ⁠adding to pressure on oil prices.

A US blockade of Iranian ports is meanwhile stopping Iran from selling its own oil, contributing to major problems in the Islamic Republic’s economy.

Despite the economic damage, there is little sign of a return to the interim ceasefire agreement that was struck in June but fell apart in July amid disputes over its terms.

Iran reiterated ⁠on Sunday that ​it would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the terms of that June agreement, as ​it interpreted them, were met.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Iran would have to keep on fighting as well as negotiating, to push back its enemies and to consolidate any gains with diplomacy.