US President Donald Trump Tuesday used his address to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly to defend his administration’s war against Iran, call for Tehran’s economic isolation and again claim credit for ending the India-Pakistan conflict, saying Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had thanked him for “saving 30 million lives”.
In a wide-ranging speech before world leaders in New York, Trump put his second-term foreign policy at the centre of his remarks, arguing that US intervention had helped resolve or prevent a series of conflicts. Referring to the India-Pakistan military confrontation, he reiterated his claim that Washington had played a decisive role in stopping the fighting and said Sharif had acknowledged his intervention. India has consistently rejected Trump’s claim of US mediation, maintaining that the cessation of hostilities was worked out directly between the Indian and Pakistani militaries.
Repeats India-Pak claim
Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for bringing the May 2025 India-Pakistan hostilities to an end, often citing trade as part of his efforts to persuade the two countries to stop fighting. New Delhi has maintained that there was no third-party mediation and that the understanding to halt military action followed direct communication between the Directors General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan.
At the UNGA Tuesday, Trump again cited the episode while highlighting what his administration describes as its record of ending conflicts. He said Sharif had thanked him for saving millions of lives that could otherwise have been lost if the confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours had escalated.
The US President has made similar assertions on several occasions since the 2025 conflict. Pakistan has publicly credited Trump’s role, while India has repeatedly rejected any suggestion that Washington mediated the ceasefire.
Calls to isolate Iran
A major part of Trump’s address focused on Iran, against the backdrop of the conflict that began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28 this year and has since triggered severe economic and security disruption across the Middle East.
Trump defended his decision to launch military action against Tehran, arguing that the campaign had prevented Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. He urged countries to intensify economic pressure on the Iranian government and backed its further international isolation.
The appeal reinforced the administration’s “Operation Economic Outcast”, announced in August as an effort to sever Iran’s remaining financial and commercial links. Washington has since expanded sanctions and threatened secondary measures against entities and countries continuing certain forms of business with Tehran.
Trump presented Iran with a choice between continued economic isolation and reaching an agreement with Washington. At the same time, he has left open the possibility of talks with Iranian leaders, even as his administration maintains military and economic pressure.
Iran has rejected Washington’s account of the conflict and its nuclear programme. Its delegation walked out during parts of Trump’s UN address in protest.
War dominates UN gathering
The Iran conflict has become one of the central issues at this year’s General Assembly, alongside the continuing Russia-Ukraine war and broader concerns over global energy security. Disruptions associated with the Middle East conflict have put pressure on international fuel markets and raised concerns over commercial shipping and energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump also used his address to criticise international institutions, including the United Nations, arguing that they had often failed to resolve major conflicts and had sought to constrain US sovereignty. His administration has reduced American involvement in several international bodies and pressed the UN to cut spending and undertake institutional reforms.
His remarks came shortly after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his final address to the annual high-level General Assembly debate, warned of widening geopolitical divisions and called for reforms to make the multilateral system more representative of contemporary global realities.
Diplomatic meetings lined up
Trump’s UN appearance is part of a packed diplomatic schedule in New York. He was due to hold meetings with several leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and representatives of Gulf countries concerned about the widening security crisis in the Middle East.
The Gulf discussions are expected to focus heavily on Iran and the growing regional threat posed by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, whose advances and attacks have heightened concerns in Saudi Arabia and disrupted shipping around the Bab el-Mandab Strait.
Trump is also scheduled to meet Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen as Washington moves towards an agreement expanding its military presence in Greenland.
His UNGA speech came at a time when his administration is confronting simultaneous foreign-policy challenges — from the prolonged Ukraine war and tensions with Iran to instability in the Gulf — even as Trump sought to portray US military and economic pressure as central to reshaping the international order.