What to expect as UN General Assembly convenes amid Iran war

WASHINGTON — As the Iran war and a new escalation by Yemen’s Houthis roil the Middle East, leaders from across the region will descend on New York City next week for the United Nations’ annual summit. 

President Donald Trump, whose administration has cut tranches of funding from UN organizations, will address the General Assembly on Tuesday, as will leaders from Turkey, Jordan, Qatar and Egypt. Other key speeches to watch include Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Syrian President Ahmed al-Shaara on Wednesday and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will meet with Trump in Washington on Thursday, will skip the UN gathering.  

"This is in a city the president loves," said a senior US official previewing Trump's agenda in New York. "The UN General Assembly is "the one place, one time a year, where you get over 150 prime ministers, presidents and foreign ministers to come all together." 

Iran in the spotlight 

All eyes will be on the Iranians, whose “core delegation,” which includes Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, was granted last-minute visas by the US State Department to attend in line with the United States’ obligations as the host country.  

The Iranian delegation, which the department says is smaller than last year’s, will again be under travel restrictions and face prohibitions on the purchase of luxury goods. During last year’s summit, Iranian officials and their families were barred from shopping at Costco and other major retailers.

“New York-area retailers: be on guard, don’t become complicit in these violations,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on social media Thursday.

Pezeshkian is likely to employ familiar rhetoric in his UN speech, casting Iran as a bulwark against "US hegemony and aggression," said Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington. 

“Pezeshkian is a strong proponent of a diplomatic resolution,” Slavin said. “But he is going to be there representing the system as a whole, and so he has to be quite firm.”  

The UN summit has often served as a venue for backchannel diplomacy between Tehran and Washington. Senior Iranian officials will meet with counterparts from Oman, Qatar and other Gulf states, regional officials told Al-Monitor, while Trump plans to sit down with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders on Tuesday, Axios reported. 

“There will be plenty of opportunity for messages to be passed,” with possible progress on management of the Strait of Hormuz, Slavin said. 

Iran has effectively blockaded the strait since the start of the war, and made its reopening conditional on the removal of US sanctions, compensation for war damage and other demands rejected by the Trump administration. In addition to attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and shipping this month, the Houthis seized islands near Bab el-Mandeb, giving Iran and its allies leverage over two global chokepoints. 

Israel-Palestine showdown 

The State Department denied visas to the Palestinian delegation, saying in a statement that the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority were being held "accountable for glorifying terrorism.” As a result, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will address the General Assembly on Thursday virtually for the second year in a row. 

France, the United Kingdom and Canada will host a high-level meeting Tuesday focused on advancing a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, an Elysee source said the event aims to demonstrate two-state momentum "despite the deterioration of the situation on the ground, the multiplication of Israeli provocations in the West Bank and the worsening situation in Gaza."  

Earlier this month, the three countries jointly announced sanctions banning the import of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, territory that Palestinians envision as part of a future state. Settler violence there has risen sharply in 2026 and Netanyahu’s right-wing government has overseen an expansion in settlements. 

Richard Gowan, the International Crisis Group’s director for global issues and institutions, said the Palestinian question won’t loom as large over this year’s UN summit, in part because the Security Council has effectively handed off responsibility for the Gaza Strip to the Board of Peace. Since its launch in January, the Trump-led body has struggled to implement the next phase of Gaza's ceasefire, which calls for the disarmament of Hamas, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilization force. 

Gowan expects a highly charged address from Netanyahu on Thursday "even by the standards of his usual bombastic appearances in New York." 

With the Israeli elections on Oct. 27, Netanyahu will be “performing primarily for a domestic audience,” said Gowan, who expects the prime minister to target the United Nations over its alleged bias against Israel. 

Rina Bassist contributed reporting from Paris.