Xi arrives and Iran speaks ABC’s diplomatic report

Sep 23

ABC’s Mary Bruce reports Trump welcoming Xi at Andrews despite Republican concern about China’s support for Iran. The report recalls Trump’s May praise, airs Wicker’s criticism and covers Pezeshkian’s UN address with pictures of schoolgirls killed in a suspected U.S. strike still under Pentagon investigation. Bruce discusses possible Chinese influence over Iran and AI cooperation, while Trump’s post-election war timeline remains a prediction.

During his September 23 UN address, Pezeshkian holds photographs of Iran’s late supreme leader and children killed in the opening attacks, naming Minab and Lamerd. He attributes the leader’s death and civilian killings to Iran’s adversaries, and describes the Lamerd sports-hall weapon as a cluster bomb. IRINN repeats those accusations and shows selected later reactions welcoming his display of the images. Vremya replays the leader and school accusations. ABC identifies the school photographs with Minab, calls the attack a suspected American airstrike and explicitly says the Pentagon is still investigating. The photographs, his attributed allegations and those different degrees of reported attribution are preserved; they do not independently establish the weapon, responsibility or a new casualty total. The February attacks and subsequent accountability efforts remain separate historical occurrences rather than being redated to the UN speech.