Iran live updates: Tehran officials praise president's UNGA address, vow resolve

Pezeshkian said Tehran "will never bow" to U.S. pressure. President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites. Delegations from the U.S. and Iran entered negotiations in June aimed at a war-ending deal based on a memorandum of understanding signed by both countries. Those talks broke down as the U.S. and Iran continued to exchange strikes, with the strategic Strait of Hormuz as the primary flashpoint. Trump then said in August that the U.S. would launch a "crushing economic operation" to force Tehran into submission. Senior Iranian figures praised Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's Wednesday address to the United Nations General Assembly, in which he said Tehran "will never bow" to U.S. threats. Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, wrote in a post on X that Pezeshkian's speech constituted "a slap in the face" to the U.S., after President Donald Trump said he was mulling a "big decision" at to whether to make a deal with Tehran or "quickly annihilate" the country. "As long as Iran's waters, land and skies remain under threat, no aggressor nation -- nor any supporter of such aggressors -- shall enjoy security," Abdollahi said.

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