Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a defiant speech at the United Nations on Wednesday as his government downplayed talks with the United States.
Meanwhile, another ship attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz was struck by a projectile, highlighting the dangers that continue to restrict traffic through the critical waterway as the seven-month war grinds on.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East. More coverage of the U.N. General Assembly is available here.
Iran's president calls US attacks ‘cowardly’
Iran's president said his country's people had been the “victims of terrorism” by the United States.
Delivering a rare wartime speech at the U.N. General Assembly, Pezeshkian displayed images of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and more than 150 schoolchildren killed in the opening days of the conflict.
“We have only defended ourselves. We are not terrorists,” he said. “Our innocent people have been the targets of cowardly attacks and aggressions imposed upon our country.”
Turning to the United States, Pezeshkian added: “Yes, they did hit us, but we did not bend the knee.”
Rubio says Trump still open to a deal to make Iran ‘prosperous’
Pezeshkian addressed world leaders a day after U.S. President Donald Trump used the same stage to suggest that he might “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if an agreement was not reached soon to end the nearly seven-month war.
Hours later, Trump touted “a very good meeting” between his chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and Iranian officials. Tehran, however, downplayed the talks. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said they were “not anything new.”
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that Trump remained open to an agreement “that allows Iran to be what it should be, which is a great and prosperous country.”
Rubio said the prospects for such a deal were hindered by Iran’s nuclear ambitions and “their support of terrorism.” If those policies continued, he said, Trump could exercise “a number of options,” including further military action.
Hard-liners in Iran criticize talks with US
Hard-line figures in Iran attacked Iran’s top diplomat for engaging with the U.S. at the U.N., triggering pushback from rival factions in Tehran.
In an X post, lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei demanded that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi explain the decision to meet with “the aggressor enemy.”
Ali Ahmadnia, a media official for Iran’s president, responded by posting an AI-generated image depicting Araghchi as a wounded warrior.
“How can a soldier be on the battlefield while the home front is being weakened from within?!" Ahmadnia wrote on X. “The Iranian delegation in New York operates in full coordination with the relevant institutions.”
US-backed Board of Peace proposes plan to begin Gaza reconstruction
The U.S.-backed Board of Peace is proposing a six-month, $2.45 billion plan to begin reconstruction and governance in Gaza as President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan struggles to stay afloat.
At a meeting of the group’s board in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, the governors unveiled a 66-project blueprint to get things started while acknowledging enormous hurdles that must still be overcome. The projects include ambitious infrastructure, education and health initiatives that are designed to support Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war.
The proposal comes as the the U.S.-backed plan has largely stalled.
While the ceasefire halted the heaviest fighting and humanitarian conditions have improved, the Israeli military has expanded its control of Gaza and now occupies some 60% of the territory. Hamas has not given up its weapons. The international military force and new government still have not entered Gaza, and reconstruction has not begun. The vast majority of Palestinians continue to live in tent camps or ruins of their former homes.
“The need is immense,” the board said, noting that full reconstruction from the physical damage across Gaza will cost roughly $35.2 billion over the medium term and an additional $71.4 billion over the next 10 years.
Another ship hit in the Strait of Hormuz
A cargo ship was struck in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said, citing an unidentified company security officer.
The vessel was hit by an “unknown projectile,” resulting in two casualties, UKMTO said without providing further details. The crew abandoned the ship, which caught fire and was left adrift.
The attack was the first reported in two days. No one immediately claimed responsibility.
The incident highlighted the continuing danger to ships attempting to navigate the waterway. Some vessels appear to be making “dark passages” without transmitting identifying signals, but Iran and the United States have maintained their competing blockades. Commercial traffic remains well below prewar levels, according to ship-tracking data from analytics firm Kpler.
Restrictions on shipping through the strait have become one of the war’s most persistent consequences. Before the conflict, one-fifth of the world’s traded oil passed through the narrow waterway, along with large volumes of natural gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products.
Vehicle ramming in the West Bank injures ambassador's son
The son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States was gravely injured in a ramming attack in the occupied West Bank.
Neria Leiter, a reservist in Israel’s military, “needs a miracle,” Ambassador Yechiel Leiter posted on social media. The ambassador’s older son, Moshe Yedidya Leiter, who also served in Israel’s military, was killed in Gaza about a month after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the war in Gaza.
According to the military and law enforcement, a Palestinian man rammed his car into a security checkpoint Wednesday afternoon near the settlement of Beit Horon, seriously wounding the soldier. Israeli forces then opened fire at the man as he attempted to flee and killed him.
More military forces were deployed in the aftermath in the area, which is crossed by a major highway connecting Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog both sent wishes for Leiter’s recovery. A social media post by Herzog described Leiter as “fighting for his life.”
Major Arab parties disqualified from running in Israeli elections
Israel’s election commission voted Wednesday to disqualify major Arab political parties and candidates from running in next month’s polls.
The disqualification came at the request of two right-wing parties, including the Likud party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The parties had said the candidates were ineligible under a law barring those who reject Israel’s existence, incite racism or support armed struggle against Israel.
Wednesday’s vote targeted the United Arab List, a religious Arab Muslim party also known by its Hebrew name Ra’am; as well as the Joint List, an alliance of left-wing and Arab-majority parties. Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas said the decision was a “political, illegitimate, and anti-democratic move” and that the party would appeal to the Supreme Court.
Elections will be held next month, the first since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that plunged Israel into war.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
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