Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday ripped President Donald Trump’s comments to the United Nations General Assembly a day earlier as “ignorant, absurd and hateful,” charging that it would be a “great pity” if the 2015 nuclear deal his nation agreed to with the U.S. and other world powers “were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers” to politics.
In a scathing 23-minute speech to the chamber, Rouhani did not mention Trump by name, but referred to him on several occasions, citing his threats to tear up the nuclear pact.
“It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics. The world will have lost a great opportunity, but such unfortunate behavior will never impede Iran’s course of progress,” Rouhani said.
He also took specific aim at Trump’s controversial speech to the chamber on Tuesday.
“The ignorant, absurd, and hateful rhetoric filled with ridiculously baseless allegations that was uttered before this august body was not only unfit to be heard at the United Nations,” he said, “but indeed contradicted the demands of our nations from this world body to bring governments together to combat war and terror.”
One day earlier, Trump had used his own speech to the assembly to take on North Korea and Iran, dismissing the nuclear deal between Tehran and the U.S. and other world powers that lifted sanctions in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear program as an “embarrassment” and “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
Trump blasted the Iranian government as a “murderous regime” on the “pursuit of death and destruction”.
He also ripped North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as a “rocket man” on a “suicide mission” and warned that he may be forced to “totally destroy” the rogue nation.
It was Trump’s comments on Iran, however, that captured the attention of Rouhani, who had told NBC News Tuesday that if the U.S. backed out of the nuclear deal “no one will trust America again” and that his own country could then resume work on expanding its nuclear capabilities.Trump, for his part, said earlier Wednesday that he’d made up his mind regarding whether he’d end the deal, but wouldn’t say how he’d decided.
During a press spray with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Trump was shouted a question about the deal.
“I have decided,” Trump responded.
But when asked whether the U.S. would remain in the deal, Trump replied only that, “I’ll let you know, I’ll let you know for sure.”
Meanwhile, Trump spent much of his day Wednesday huddling privately with Middle Eastern leaders on the sidelines of the assembly.
First, Trump met Jordan’s King Abdullah II, telling reporters before their session that “never has the relationship been better than it is right now.”
Next, before his meeting with Abbas, Trump said he was “fighting very hard” for a peace deal between Palestine and Israel.
“There’s a small period of time and we’re going to see what we can do,” Trump said. “But so many people have talked about it and it’s never happened, but we are fighting very hard, we are trying very hard.”