Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a defiant speech at the United Nations on Wednesday, while his government played down recent talks with the United States.
Meanwhile, another ship attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz was hit by a projectile, highlighting the risks that continue to disrupt traffic through the key waterway as the nearly seven-month war continues.
Here are the latest developments from the Middle East.
Pezeshkian calls US attacks ‘cowardly’
Pezeshkian said the Iranian people had been victims of what he described as terrorism by the United States.
In a rare wartime address to the UN General Assembly, he displayed images of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and more than 150 schoolchildren who were killed during the early 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.”
Referring to the United States, Pezeshkian added, “Yes, they did hit us, but we did not bend the knee.”
Rubio says Trump remains open to agreement
Pezeshkian spoke a day after US President Donald Trump told the same gathering that he could “annihilate” Iran if an agreement was not reached soon to end the conflict.
Later, Trump described a meeting between his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian officials as “a very good meeting.” Tehran, however, played down the talks, with Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei saying they were “not anything new.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Trump remained open to an agreement that would allow Iran to become “a great and prosperous country.”
Rubio said Iran's nuclear programme and what he described as its “support of terrorism” were obstacles to reaching a deal.
If those policies continued, he said Trump could consider “a number of options,” including further military action.
Iranian hard-liners criticize talks with US
Hard-line figures in Iran criticized Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi for engaging with US officials at the UN, prompting a response from rival political factions in Tehran.
Lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei called on Araghchi to explain his decision to meet with “the aggressor enemy” in a post on X.
Ali Ahmadnia, a media official for the Iranian president, responded by posting an AI-generated image showing 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.
He added that the Iranian delegation in New York was operating in coordination with the relevant institutions.
US-backed group proposes Gaza reconstruction plan
The US-backed Board of Peace has proposed a six-month, $2.45 billion plan to begin reconstruction and establish governance in Gaza as Trump's ceasefire initiative faces difficulties.
At a meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, the group's governors presented a 66-project plan covering infrastructure, education and health.
The projects are intended to support Trump's 20-point proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war.
The proposal comes as the wider US-backed plan has largely stalled.
Although the ceasefire has reduced the heaviest fighting and improved humanitarian conditions, the Israeli military has expanded its control over Gaza and now occupies about 60% of the territory.
Hamas has not surrendered its weapons, while an international military force and a new government have yet to enter Gaza. Reconstruction has also not begun, with most Palestinians still living in tent camps or the remains of their homes.
“The need is immense,” the board said, estimating that rebuilding Gaza's physical infrastructure would cost about $35.2 billion over the medium term, followed by another $71.4 billion over the next 10 years.
Ship hit in Strait of Hormuz
A cargo ship was struck in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said, citing a security officer from an unidentified company.
The vessel was hit by an “unknown projectile,” leaving two people injured, UKMTO said. The crew abandoned the ship after it caught fire, leaving it adrift.
It was the first reported attack on a vessel in two days, and no group immediately claimed responsibility.
The incident highlighted the continuing risks facing ships using the strategic waterway.
Some vessels appear to be making what are known as “dark passages” without transmitting identification signals. Iran and the United States have maintained competing blockades, while commercial traffic remains far below prewar levels, according to ship-tracking data from analytics firm Kpler.
Before the conflict, about one-fifth of the world's traded oil passed through the narrow waterway, along with significant amounts of natural gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products.
Ambassador's son seriously injured in West Bank attack
The son of Israel's ambassador to the United States was seriously injured in a vehicle-ramming attack in the occupied West Bank.
Neria Leiter, an Israeli military reservist, “needs a miracle,” Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said in a social media post.
Leiter's older son, Moshe Yedidya Leiter, who also served in the Israeli military, was killed in Gaza about a month after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza war.
According to Israeli military and law enforcement officials, a Palestinian man drove his vehicle into a security checkpoint near the settlement of Beit Horon on Wednesday afternoon, seriously injuring the soldier.
Israeli forces opened fire as the man tried to flee and killed him, officials said.
Additional military forces were deployed in the area afterward. The location is near a major highway connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog both expressed wishes for Leiter's recovery. Herzog described him as “fighting for his life” in a social media post.
Major Arab parties barred from Israeli elections
Israel's election commission voted Wednesday to disqualify major Arab political parties and candidates from participating in next month's elections.
The move followed requests from two right-wing parties, including Netanyahu's Likud party. They argued that the candidates were barred under a law targeting those who reject Israel's existence, incite racism or support armed struggle against Israel.
The decision affects the United Arab List, a religious Arab Muslim party also known by its Hebrew name Ra'am, and the Joint List, an alliance of left-wing and Arab-majority parties.
Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas described the decision as a “political, illegitimate, and anti-democratic move” and said the party would appeal to the Supreme Court.
The elections will be the first in Israel since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that led to the ongoing war.