Iran’s New Leader Takes UN Stage as Israel-Hezbollah War Spreads

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian makes his UN General Assembly debut in New York on Tuesday with two urgent but opposing mandates: ease his country’s economic isolation while also responding to Israel’s escalating war with Hezbollah.

Pezeshkian is scheduled to address the body’s annual gathering in what will be his most prominent speech since he won Iran’s presidential election in July. One of his goals has been to engage Western powers over restoring a nuclear deal he says is key to reviving the economy.

He’s considered a reformer within the narrow spectrum of Iranian politics, and observers will be on the lookout for a softer tone than that put forward by his predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.

Yet the speech will come as the death toll mounts — more than 500 people so far, including 50 children — from Israel’s bombardment of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. The escalation by the key US ally increases the likelihood of all-out war with the Islamist group, the most powerful of Iran’s allied militant forces across the Middle East. 

“There will be pressure inside Iran to respond, with individuals arguing that restraint has not delivered a cease-fire or any gains,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House. “On the other hand, perhaps he can translate this crisis into an urgent call for further diplomacy.”

Worse for Iran, the country’s ambassador to Lebanon was among the thousands of people wounded in a campaign that blew up pagers and walkie talkies. Israel also remains at war with Hamas — another Iranian proxy group — with cease-fire talks long deadlocked.

Pezeshkian will face a cold reception from the US and western allies who say Iran’s funding of Hamas, Hezbollah and other proxies make talks of rapprochement impossible. He’ll also have to attend to the priorities of hard line institutions back home.

Those include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, both of which will be weighing how to respond to Israel’s worsening attacks on a critical ally.

“Some of Iran’s competing objectives are in clear conflict now,” said Ali Vaez, Director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group. “It’s hard to get economic reprieve from the West when Iran is on the opposite side of two conflicts the West cares about: Ukraine and Gaza-Lebanon.”

Vaez was referring to another alliance that has angered the US and its allies — strengthening military ties between Iran and Russia. US and UK officials have accused Iran of supplying ballistic missiles to Russia, an accusation Pezeshkian denied in a meeting with reporters in New York on Monday. He said he doesn’t approve of Russia’s war on Ukraine. 

Israel’s War Trap

On Israel, he said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to trap Iran into a conflict his country doesn’t want. 

“It’s Israel that wants to drag everyone into war and destabilize the region,” Pezeshkian said. “They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go.”

According to Tehran-based economist Saeed Laylaz, one reason Iran hasn’t responded to Israel with force — despite repeatedly warning it will do so — is based on a calculation that puts more store in the long-term value of securing sanctions relief. That’s a critical step toward attracting desperately needed foreign investment, and time may be running out with Donald Trump — who tore up the nuclear deal in 2018 — running for a White House return.

“I don’t believe that Iran will make a big move that will bring it directly into this conflict,” Laylaz said. That “will work in favor of Netanyahu and Trump and that’s what the Islamic Republic will avoid.” 

Uncertainty over the outcome of the US elections could mean Pezeshkian’s delegation may not have high expectations of what can achieved at the UN summit. 

“It’s hard to imagine any developments in Iran’s relationship with the West or the nuclear deal at the UN,” said Laylaz, a former advisor to the reformist ex-President Mohammad Khatami. “It’s the day after the US elections that will be more critical for the Iranian government.”

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