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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s sharp rebuke of Washington at the United Nations would have drawn little more than a “smirk” from President Donald Trump, who knows he “holds the cards,” a foreign policy expert told Digital on Wednesday.
The assessment came after Pezeshkian and Trump addressed the U.N. General Assembly in New York from the same podium within 24 hours of each other, trading sharp rhetoric as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to mount.
“Trump understands he holds the cards, and he may not even have paid much attention to what the Iranian president was saying,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told Digital.
Pezeshkian accused the United States and Israel of attacking Iran while portraying his country as the victim of aggression.
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President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian holds a picture, which he says is from the Minab school that was hit by an airstrike, as he addresses the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters on September 23, 2026 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“We have only defended ourselves. We are not terrorists,” Pezeshkian claimed.
“Our innocent people have been the targets of cowardly attacks and aggressions imposed upon our country. America and Israel attacked us,” he said.
“I’m sure that would have drawn a smirk or a smile or a chuckle from the president’s face, seeing that crassness,” Taleblu said, pointing to what he described as a sharp contrast between Pezeshkian’s rhetoric and the Iranian government’s track record.
Pezeshkian’s address came after Trump used the same U.N. stage to defend the U.S. conflict with Iran and warn that Tehran faced a stark choice between reaching a deal and facing further destruction.
“Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic, and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?” Trump said on Tuesday.
While the rhetoric from both leaders was pointed, Taleblu said their broader diplomatic positions remain largely predictable.
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President Donald Trump addresses the UNGA in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, New York. (Michael Santiago/Getty Images)
“To a certain degree, both President Trump and President Pezeshkian’s speeches before the U.N. General Assembly’s 81st session were predictable,” Taleblu said.
“Predictable because the status of both countries and their foreign policy toward the other are in a fairly predictable pattern right now,” he added,
Despite the threats and recriminations, the two adversaries also appear to be still testing a diplomatic path behind the scenes.
Trump said Tuesday that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spoke with Iranian officials for roughly three hours on the sidelines of the General Assembly and characterized the discussions as productive.
Witkoff later said the talks were conducted through mediators who shuttled between the U.S. and Iranian delegations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also represented Tehran in the discussions, according to reports.
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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, left, and President Donald Trump. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images; Jose Luis Magana/AP)
Both sides, Taleblu said, are attempting “to make time a weapon on their side” and “to put the burden of choosing between escalation and engagement on the other.”
But Taleblu went on to characterize Pezeshkian’s broader message as an attempt to cast Iran as a victim through an anti-American, anti-Israel and anti-imperialist framework.
“It seemed to be more of a global South, anti-American, anti-Israeli, kind of anti-colonial, anti-imperialist message that he was looking to kind of paint the Islamic Republic as the victim,” Taleblu said.
“In reality, the long-serving victim in this entire crisis is the Iranian people because of the policies of the Islamic Republic.”
The competing messages — confrontation from the U.N. podium and diplomacy behind the scenes — highlighted the unresolved tensions between Washington and Tehran as officials explore whether negotiations can produce an off-ramp from the conflict.
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President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters on September 23, 2026 in New York City. World leaders have gathered in New York for the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly, with this year’s global issues ranging from the threat of artificial intelligence to the continued wars in Ukraine and Gaza. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
“Despite the tough talk at the podium, both sides still feel like they need to signal an interest in talks, even though they’re both trying to use talks to shape an outcome that is more conducive to their interests,” Taleblu said.
Pezeshkian also told the General Assembly that Tehran would not surrender to military pressure while signaling that Iran remained open to diplomacy.
“I think the Iranians are trying to signal an interest in talks, but they may run into a brick wall quite soon if they foot-drag or delay or don’t meaningfully provide any kind of substantive change in their policy,” Taleblu said, citing Iran’s positions on the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and its nuclear program.
“Ultimately, if the positions remain the same, the fact that they’re oscillating between shooting and talking doesn’t mean much because the red lines haven’t actually moved,” Taleblu said.
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“Of course, the Trump administration is looking for a political win here,” he concluded.
