Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Iran and the United States are at war. The war started about seven months ago.
On Tuesday, US President Trump gave a speech at the United Nations. He said the US could destroy Iran completely.
On Wednesday, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian gave his own speech at the same building. He said Iranians are not terrorists. He said they are victims of terrorism.
Pezeshkian talked about a school and a sports hall that were hit by attacks. He said Iran wants peace but will not give up its rights.
- president
- the leader of a country
- speech
- talking in public to share ideas
- war
- fighting between countries
- destroy
- to break something completely
- terrorist
- a person who uses violence to scare people
- victim
- a person who is hurt by something bad
- attack
- an action that tries to hurt someone
- peace
- a time with no fighting
Level 2 — Elementary
Iran and the United States have been at war for almost seven months. This week, both countries' leaders spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
On Tuesday, President Trump told world leaders that the US was deciding whether to 'annihilate' Iran, meaning destroy it completely. He accused Iran of supporting terrorism.
On Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian answered him from the same stage. He said, 'We have been victims of terrorism,' not the people who cause it. He held up photos of children and of buildings that had been destroyed.
Pezeshkian mentioned attacks on a school in the town of Minab and a sports hall in Lamerd. A United Nations report said these attacks could be war crimes. He said Iran wants peaceful nuclear energy but not nuclear weapons, and that Iran will keep defending itself.
- General Assembly
- the main meeting of all United Nations member countries
- annihilate
- to destroy something so completely that nothing is left
- accuse
- to say that someone has done something wrong
- defiant
- showing that you refuse to obey or give up
- war crime
- an illegal act of violence committed during a war
- civilian
- a person who is not part of the military
- nuclear
- related to energy released from the nucleus of an atom
- sovereignty
- a country's right to govern itself without outside control
Level 3 — Intermediate
The confrontation between Iran and the United States reached a striking new moment this week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where both nations' leaders addressed the world body within a day of each other, nearly seven months into their war.
President Trump told the Assembly on Tuesday that Washington was weighing whether to 'annihilate' Iran, framing the choice as one between a negotiated deal and total destruction. He accused Tehran of sponsoring terrorism across the region.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian used his own address on Wednesday to push back directly, calling his people 'victims of terrorism' rather than its perpetrators. He raised photographs of children in a classroom and of memorial sites, referring specifically to strikes on a school in Minab and a sports hall in Lamerd, attacks that a United Nations-backed investigation recently concluded could amount to war crimes.
Pezeshkian declared that Iran would defend itself without seeking anyone's permission and would not abandon what he called its inherent right to peaceful nuclear technology, while insisting the country does not want nuclear weapons. Analysts noted the historic nature of the moment: no other head of state has addressed the General Assembly in person while his country was actively at war with the United States.
- confrontation
- a hostile or challenging encounter between opposing sides
- address
- a formal speech given to an audience
- perpetrator
- a person who carries out a harmful or illegal act
- investigation
- a formal inquiry to establish facts
- inherent
- existing as a natural and permanent part of something
- sponsor
- to support or fund an activity, often covertly
- abandon
- to give up or stop pursuing something completely
- memorial
- something built or held to remember a person or event
Level 4 — Advanced
The theater of the United Nations General Assembly furnished an extraordinary tableau this week, as the leaders of two nations locked in an active, nearly seven-month war addressed the same rostrum within a single day of one another, each seeking to shape international opinion at the moment of maximum global attention.
President Trump's Tuesday address cast the confrontation in stark binary terms, presenting the assembled diplomats with a choice between a negotiated settlement and what he termed the annihilation of the Islamic Republic, while leveling accusations that Tehran continues to underwrite terrorist activity throughout the region.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's rebuttal the following morning was calibrated for maximum rhetorical force: he inverted the terrorism charge entirely, casting his compatriots as its victims rather than its agents, and buttressed the claim with photographic evidence of child casualties and memorial sites tied to strikes on a school in Minab and a sports hall in Lamerd, incidents a UN-backed inquiry has since characterized as potential war crimes.
Pezeshkian's insistence that Iran would defend itself 'without seeking anyone's permission,' paired with his refusal to relinquish what he characterized as an inherent entitlement to peaceful nuclear technology even as he disavowed any pursuit of weapons capability, underscored a negotiating posture built on defiance rather than concession. Diplomatic observers noted that his willingness to appear in person, rather than send a deputy, while his country remained actively at war with the United States, was itself without precedent in the Assembly's history and a calculated signal of resolve to both domestic and international audiences.
- tableau
- a striking or dramatic scene or picture
- rostrum
- a raised platform from which a speaker addresses an audience
- underwrite
- to financially support or sponsor an activity
- rebuttal
- a response that argues against a previous claim
- calibrate
- to carefully adjust something for a precise effect
- compatriot
- a fellow citizen of one's own country
- disavow
- to deny responsibility for or support of something
- precedent
- an earlier event or action regarded as an example for later cases
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