We aren’t trying to kill Trump, Iran’s president insists to reporters at New York hotel

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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s media appearances in Iran are tightly controlled affairs.

But on Thursday he sat down to face questions from a group of journalists in New York, where despite being the leader of a country at war with the United States, he is visiting with the protection of the US Secret Service.

In the wide-ranging session, a day after addressing the UN General Assembly, Pezeshkian repeated familiar Iranian positions on the war, its nuclear program and dissent in Iran. He also talked about the effect of sanctions on the Iranian people, and claimed Iran would never try to kill Donald Trump – despite the president and US authorities accusing the regime of plotting his assassination.

The comments were made at the Millennium Hilton hotel, a stone’s throw from the UN headquarters where the Iranian president declared Wednesday that his country “will not bow down” as the war with the US drags on.

In the briefing, Pezeshkian also described recent meetings he had held with Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the outset of the war, saying that the leader was “quite healthy.”

There has been mounting speculation in recent months over Khamenei’s health, after he was understood to have sustained serious injuries in the US-Israeli attack that killed his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei at the beginning of the conflict in February.

Speaking about Khamenei’s condition, Pezeshkian said, “I did not see any major challenges with his health or physical appearance,” adding that their most recent in-person meeting had taken place around one month ago and lasted around seven hours.

Pezeshkian said the pair had sat on pillows on the ground and stood up to walk around during the meeting. US intelligence assesses that despite his injuries Khamenei is still playing a critical role in shaping war strategy alongside senior Iranian officials, multiple sources familiar with the intelligence said in May.

The presence of Iran’s delegation in a country with which it remains at war is already virtually unprecedented.

But this spectacle became increasingly unconventional on Thursday when the Iranian president and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi briefed reporters including from CNN in a hotel function room in Midtown Manhattan.

A State Department official said earlier this week that the visiting Iranian delegates were “being admitted to the United States strictly for the purpose of representing the Islamic Republic of Iran before the United Nations” and that they must “restrict their activities to United Nations-related business only.”

The Iranians “must seek and receive approval in advance” from the State Department if they want to travel outside the vicinity of the UN headquarters, John F. Kennedy International Airport or Iran’s UN mission facilities, the official said.

In the briefing, Pezeshkian denied accusations that Iran was trying to kill the president, saying it has “never been the position [of the Iranian government], overtly or covertly, to seek to assassinate Trump or his family members.”

Last month, the US Secret Service said it was aware of a video aired by Iran’s state broadcaster appearing to threaten the life of Barron Trump , the president’s youngest son. This came after Israel shared intelligence with the US that Iran had devised a plan to assassinate Donald Trump. In late 2024, the US Justice Department announced federal charges over what it described as a thwarted Iranian plot to kill Trump before the presidential election.

Hard-line Iranian media have repeatedly featured content threatening the life of Trump and his family. During funeral events for the late Khamenei in July, regime loyalists were seen holding posters with the words “Kill Trump.” Trump has publicly discussed the Iranian threats on his life too, saying in July: “I’m on whatever list … so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long. These are evil, sick people.”

In response to Pezeshkian’s comments, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said, “The Iranian regime has murdered thousands of its own people, killed Americans overseas, executed acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz, and launched indiscriminate attacks against its neighbors in the region.”

“The president is courageously ensuring that such an evil country never possesses a nuclear weapon, which will make the entire world safer and more stable,” Kelly said.

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Iran’s president laid out Tehran’s demands to the world, from a podium in New York

Pezeshkian also discussed the domestic challenges facing Iran. US sanctions and the ongoing war have suffocated the country’s economy , sparking prices increases and shortages of basic necessities.

Iran’s economy was in a dire state even before the war began, with the poor conditions a key driving factor behind the anti-regime demonstrations which kicked off in the Iranian capital city Tehran in 2025.

“We have problems. Unprecedentedly difficult problems,” he told reporters, while referring to US sanctions as a “silent murderous campaign.”

Much like in his Wednesday address to world leaders, Pezeshkian appeared confident in the briefing that Iran would prevail despite the challenges facing his country. He also insisted that US bases in the region were legitimate targets as they had been used to attack Iran.

“Most of the American bases in the region are no longer useable,” he claimed.

Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases across the Middle East region during the war’s first months, according to an official Pentagon watchdog report released earlier this month.

“Of course, the US has the power to destroy anything anywhere, but it is impossible to bring about Iranian surrender,” Pezeshkian said.

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting.

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伊朗总统马苏德·佩泽什基安在伊朗的媒体露面受到严格控制。

但周四，他坐在纽约，面对一群记者的提问。尽管他领导的国家正与美国交战，但他此次访问纽约时，却有美国特勤局的保护。

在联合国大会发言后的第二天，佩泽什基安在这次内容广泛的会议上重申了伊朗在战争、核计划和伊朗国内异议问题上的既定立场。他还谈到了制裁对伊朗人民的影响，并声称伊朗永远不会试图刺杀唐纳德·特朗普——尽管特朗普总统和美国当局指责伊朗政权策划暗杀他。

这些评论是在千禧希尔顿酒店发表的，该酒店距离联合国总部仅咫尺之遥。伊朗总统周三在联合国总部宣布，随着与美国的战争持续进行，他的国家“不会屈服”。

在简报会上，佩泽什基安还描述了他最近与伊朗最高领袖穆杰塔巴·哈梅内伊的会面，哈梅内伊自战争开始以来一直没有公开露面，佩泽什基安说这位领导人“身体很健康”。

近几个月来，外界对哈梅内伊的健康状况猜测不断，据悉他在2月份美国和以色列发动的袭击中受了重伤，那次袭击导致他的父亲和前任阿里·哈梅内伊丧生。

谈到哈梅内伊的状况，佩泽什基扬说：“我没有看到他的健康状况或外貌有任何重大问题。”他还补充说，他们最近一次面对面会晤大约在一个月前，持续了大约7个小时。

佩泽什基安称，两人会晤期间坐在地上的枕头上，不时起身走动。多位熟悉情报的消息人士在5月份表示，美国情报部门评估认为，尽管哈梅内伊受伤，但他仍然与伊朗高级官员一起在制定战争战略方面发挥着关键作用。

伊朗代表团出现在与其仍处于战争状态的国家，这在历史上几乎是前所未有的。

但到了周四，伊朗总统和伊朗外交部长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇在曼哈顿中城一家酒店的宴会厅向包括 CNN 记者在内的记者通报情况时，这一景象变得越来越不寻常。

美国国务院一位官员本周早些时候表示，来访的伊朗代表团“获准进入美国，严格是为了代表伊朗伊斯兰共和国出席联合国会议”，并且他们必须“将活动限制在与联合国相关的事务上”。

这位官员表示，伊朗人如果想前往联合国总部、约翰·F·肯尼迪国际机场或伊朗驻联合国代表团设施附近以外的地区，“必须事先向国务院申请并获得批准”。

在简报会上，佩泽什基安否认了伊朗试图刺杀总统的指控，称“伊朗政府无论公开还是秘密，从来没有采取过暗杀特朗普或其家人的立场”。

上个月，美国特勤局表示，他们注意到伊朗国家电视台播放的一段视频，视频中似乎威胁要杀害特朗普总统的小儿子巴伦。此前，以色列向美国分享了情报，称伊朗策划了一起刺杀特朗普的阴谋。2024年底，美国司法部宣布对伊朗提起联邦诉讼，指控其挫败了在总统大选前刺杀特朗普的阴谋。

伊朗强硬派媒体多次发布威胁特朗普及其家人生命的内容。7月，在已故哈梅内伊的葬礼上，有人看到伊朗政权的支持者举着写有“杀死特朗普”的标语。特朗普也曾公开谈论伊朗对他的生命威胁，他在7月表示：“我上了他们的黑名单……到目前为止，我想我还算幸运，但也许这种好运不会持续太久。这些人邪恶又病态。”

针对佩泽什基安的言论，白宫发言人安娜·凯利表示：“伊朗政权杀害了数千名本国人民，在海外杀害了美国人，在霍尔木兹海峡实施了恐怖主义行为，并对该地区的邻国发动了无差别攻击。”

凯利说：“总统勇敢地确保这样一个邪恶的国家永远不会拥有核武器，这将使整个世界更加安全稳定。”

Timothy A. Clary/法新社/盖蒂图片社

伊朗总统在纽约的讲台上向世界阐述了德黑兰的要求。

佩泽什基安还谈到了伊朗面临的国内挑战。美国的制裁和持续不断的战争扼杀了伊朗的经济，导致物价上涨和基本生活必需品短缺。

早在战争爆发之前，伊朗的经济状况就十分糟糕，这种糟糕的状况是2025年在伊朗首都德黑兰爆发的反政府示威活动的关键驱动因素。

“我们遇到了问题。前所未有的难题，”他告诉记者，同时将美国的制裁称为“一场无声的谋杀运动”。

与周三对世界各国领导人发表讲话时一样，佩泽什基安在简报会上也显得信心满满，认为伊朗尽管面临挑战，但仍将取得胜利。他还坚称，美国在该地区的军事基地是合法的攻击目标，因为这些基地曾被用来袭击伊朗。

他声称：“该地区的大多数美军基地已经无法使用了。”

根据五角大楼本月早些时候发布的一份官方监督报告，在战争的最初几个月里，伊朗的袭击破坏并摧毁了美国在中东地区的数百个基地的建筑物和构筑物。

“当然，美国有能力摧毁任何地方的任何东西，但要让伊朗投降是不可能的，”佩泽什基安说。

CNN记者詹妮弗·汉斯勒对此报道亦有贡献。