UN General Assembly live: Leaders from Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan to speak

 

• The fourth day of the annual General Debate at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City has started.
• Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam points to its recent agreements with Israel, in which it pledged to oversee the disarmament of Hezbollah in exchange for Israel’s eventual full withdrawal from Lebanon’s territory.
• Notable other speakers on Friday include Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali Falih Al-Zaidi and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan.
• Haiti’s Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime is also expected, just weeks before the crisis-wracked Caribbean nation is set to hold its first election in over a decade.

25 Updates

• 1m ago

  (15:00 GMT)

  Here’s what happened so far today

  • The prime ministers of Iraq and Lebanon took the podium, with both saying that regional stability cannot be achieved without Palestinian rights.
  • Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Zaidi promised to oversee an economic and security transformation in the country, undertaking projects to link the region to Europe and to diversify trade routes.
  • Al-Zaidi’s speech came as he has pledged to disband Iran-aligned militias in Iraq by June 2027 and as Iraq has seen its oil exports severely curtailed by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Lebanese Prime Minister Salam said his country’s sovereignty must be respected. He called on Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and said only the Lebanese state should have weapons, in a reference to efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
  • Salam also criticised the use of the UN Security Council veto power “in cases of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and serious violations of international humanitarian law”.

  

  Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at UN headquarters in New York City, US, on September 25, 2026 [Caitlin Ochs/Reuters]