U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz says President Donald Trump will use his Tuesday address to criticize U.N. findings concerning U.S. strikes in Iran while also emphasizing sovereignty, international courts and the administration’s diplomatic agenda.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
President Donald Trump is expected to challenge a recent U.N. finding that there are reasonable grounds to believe some U.S. military strikes in Iran amounted to war crimes when he addresses the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, according to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz.
Waltz said the president intends to confront what the administration considers failures and inconsistencies within the international organization while also pressing the United Nations to focus more heavily on ending active conflicts.
The dispute over Iran follows a report by a U.N. fact-finding mission that concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe U.S. forces committed war crimes in strikes on civilian sites in Iran earlier this year. The mission also found reasonable grounds to believe Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during their crackdown on domestic protests.
Waltz told the New York Post that he expects Trump to directly address the U.N. human-rights system and its treatment of U.S. military operations.
“The Human Rights Council, which is a separate part of the U.N. in Geneva, but still part of it … years ago had a George Floyd commission, and then just released a report … saying that US service members may have allegedly engaged in war crimes in Iran,” Waltz said.
The independent U.N. mission’s findings concerned strikes on a primary school in Minab and a sports facility in Lamerd. Reuters reported that the mission found reasonable grounds to conclude that U.S. forces failed to adequately verify their targets and that the attacks were indiscriminate under international humanitarian law. The United States has disputed allegations that its military deliberately or unlawfully targeted civilians.
Waltz said the administration rejects comparisons between civilian casualties arising from U.S. military operations and abuses attributed to the Iranian government.
“We have to remind people that, even when we have civilian casualties — and I’m not saying that’s the case, I think it’s still under investigation by the Pentagon — but even when we have them, it’s unintentional and it’s incidental as part of a conflict, as opposed to the Iranian regime machine-gunning 40,000 of its own people in the span of three or four days.
“The fact that these parts of the U.N. continue to make that kind of ridiculous moral equivalence just overshadows in some cases the good work that it’s doing.”
Waltz’s assertion that Iran killed 40,000 people over several days reflects the administration’s characterization of the Iranian crackdown. The U.N. fact-finding mission cited official Iranian figures of more than 3,000 deaths and said it believed the actual number was higher, while documenting allegations of unlawful killings, torture and arbitrary detention.
Trump’s anticipated criticism follows a confrontational address to the General Assembly in 2025, when he accused the organization of failing to resolve major wars.
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” Trump said during that speech. “All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter, and then never follow that letter up. It’s empty words — and empty words don’t solve war.”
Waltz said this year’s remarks are also expected to emphasize national sovereignty and the administration’s opposition to international institutions it believes exceed their authority over the United States.
Among them is the International Criminal Court.
The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute that created the ICC, and the Trump administration has sharply criticized the court over investigations involving U.S. personnel and arrest warrants involving Israeli officials.
Reuters reported Sunday that the administration was preparing broader sanctions against the ICC, potentially expanding existing restrictions from individual officials to the institution itself. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described the court as a threat to U.S. sovereignty.
Waltz said Trump is likely to discuss what he described as “out of control” international courts alongside an America First foreign policy and changes to U.S. spending at the United Nations.
The administration has reduced or withheld funding from parts of the U.N. system while withdrawing from or distancing itself from several international bodies, part of a broader effort to reduce U.S. financial commitments and limit participation in institutions the administration says conflict with American interests.
Waltz nevertheless emphasized that the administration still sees a role for the United Nations in diplomacy.
“And then back to basics, right?” Waltz said. “He’s trying to cut these peace deals around the world.
“It’s not easy whether it’s on Ukraine or Azerbaijan or Armenia, and he needs the U.N. to focus on that. … That’s what the U.N. was invented for.”
That argument reflects a recurring distinction in the Trump administration’s approach to the organization: criticism of particular agencies and international legal bodies alongside continued use of the General Assembly and Security Council as venues for diplomacy.
Trump is scheduled to address the opening day of the 81st General Assembly’s general debate Tuesday. The United Nations says the debate will continue through Saturday before concluding Monday, Sept. 28.
Ukraine will be one of the major issues surrounding the gathering.
Trump is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York as diplomatic efforts continue over the more than four-year war between Russia and Ukraine. Zelenskyy confirmed that the two leaders had agreed to meet during General Assembly week.
The Security Council and other U.N. forums are also expected to address Ukraine and the growing international debate over artificial intelligence as nearly 130 national leaders gather in New York.
Iran will present another major diplomatic challenge.
The conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel has disrupted regional energy markets and shipping routes, including traffic connected to the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb. Trump is expected to discuss Iran during meetings with Gulf leaders while the administration continues exploring possible negotiations with Tehran.
The United States has permitted a core Iranian delegation, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, to attend the General Assembly despite the continuing conflict, while imposing travel restrictions on the delegation in New York.
U.S. officials are also scheduled for bilateral meetings with numerous governments throughout the week as Washington pursues discussions over Ukraine, Iran and other international disputes.
Waltz pointed to changes in Gaza during the past year as evidence that U.N.-supported diplomacy can still play a constructive role.
“Last year, there were hostages in Gaza, bombs dropping, aid not flowing,” he said. “Now, we have the Board of Peace … Palestinians trying to govern the place; you have an international stabilization force; it’s all U.N.-endorsed.
“We need one place in the world, especially with a president that puts diplomacy first, where everyone can come and talk, and it’s once a year, the only place in the world you get over 150 prime ministers, presidents, all their foreign ministers.”
That combination of criticism and engagement is expected to shape Trump’s Tuesday appearance.
The president enters this year’s General Assembly arguing that the United Nations remains useful as a diplomatic meeting place while maintaining that parts of the institution, particularly its human-rights and international-justice mechanisms, have exceeded their proper role or treated the United States unfairly.
The broader General Assembly debate formally begins Sept. 22 and runs through Sept. 26 before its final session Sept. 28 under the theme “Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all.”
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