Iran's UN envoy calls Trump's UNGA threat to annihilate Iran a grave concern

Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Gholamhossein Darzi, has described US President Donald Trump's threat to annihilate Iran, made during the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on September 22, as a grave and alarming development. In a letter dated September 27 addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the President of the UN Security Council, Jérôme Bonnafont, Darzi said the remarks were not isolated but part of a sustained pattern of public threats against Iran by the head of a permanent member state of the Security Council.

According to the letter, Trump stated during his UNGA address: "I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly," and added that he could "drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations." Darzi said the statements were particularly grave because the General Assembly is not a venue for threats of annihilation. He cited earlier threats, including on March 22, 2026, when Trump threatened to "hit and obliterate" Iranian power plants; on March 30, 2026, when he threatened widespread destruction of energy facilities and vital infrastructure including desalination plants; on April 6, 2026, when he said "the entire country can be taken out in one night" and threatened to destroy bridges and power plants; and on April 7, 2026, when he declared "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again."

Darzi argued that the issue is not merely political rhetoric. He said an explicit threat to annihilate a sovereign UN member state, made in the context of what he described as a continuing pattern of US and Israeli acts of aggression and grave violations of international humanitarian law since February 28, 2026, directly implicates the prohibition of the threat or use of force and the responsibility of the UN and its organs to address threats to international peace and security. He warned that inaction by the international community would permit the normalization of such threats and said that when issued from the UN podium, the risks are far greater as they undermine the authority of the Charter.

Darzi stated that regardless of whether the threats are delusional fantasies, they will never materialize in the face of the resistance and defense of the Iranian people and armed forces. He said Iran reserves its full right to self-defense against any further aggression and its right to pursue, through all available legal means, accountability for the responsible states and individuals for the suffering, loss, and damage inflicted on the Iranian people. He requested that the letter be circulated as an official document of the Security Council. The report by Mehr News added that the letter was a response to Trump's UNGA address.