U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Iran on Tuesday as a "corrupt dictatorship" that is plundering the Iranian people to pay for aggression abroad, using his speech to the United Nations General Assembly to lay down a tough message for Tehran.
"Iran's leaders sow chaos, death and destruction," Trump told the annual gathering. "They do not respect their neighbors or borders or the sovereign rights of nations."
Trump compared U.S. relations with Iran to what he called improved ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, praising him for halting nuclear and missile tests and returning some U.S. remains from the 1950s Korean War. Trump had called Kim a "rocket man" bent on nuclear destruction in his U.N. speech last year.
Trump used his speech to call for international trade reforms and insist that his main objective as president is to protect American sovereignty. He called on OPEC to stop raising oil prices and criticized China's trade practices.
And Trump prompted some murmuring from the crowd of world leaders and diplomats when he declared that he had accomplished more as president than almost any other administration in history.
"I didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay," he said.
But Trump's main message was aimed at Iran and attempting to drive a wedge between its leadership and its people, days after an attack in southwestern Iran on a military parade killed 25 people and unsettled the country.
In remarks to reporters on his way to his speech before the United Nations General Assembly, Trump said he would not meet the Iranians until they "change their tune."
Both Trump and Rouhani were attending the annual U.N. event.
"Iran has acted very badly," said Trump. "We look forward to having a great relationship with Iran, but it won't happen now."
Foes for decades, Washington and Tehran have been increasingly at odds since May, when the Republican U.S. president pulled out of the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and announced sanctions against the OPEC member.
The accord, negotiated under Democratic U.S. President Barack Obama, lifted most international sanctions against Tehran in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear program.
Over the summer, Trump had said he would meet with Rouhani without preconditions to negotiate a new deal, an offer reiterated on Sunday by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and extended to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.
Rouhani said on Monday Tehran would not talk to Trump until the United States returned to the 2015 deal..
The top adviser to Khamenei, Ali Akbar Velayati, rejected the U.S. offer on Tuesday, saying "Trump's and Pompeo's dream would never come to reality," the IRNA news agency said.
"Despite requests, I have no plans to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Maybe someday in the future. I am sure he is an absolutely lovely man," Trump wrote in a post on Twitter earlier on Tuesday.
Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for Iran's U.N. mission, told Reuters that Iran has not requested a meeting with Trump.
Some Iranian insiders have said any talks between Rouhani and Trump would effectively kill the existing nuclear accord.
Quashing the current pact would come at a political cost for the Iranian president, who championed the deal with the supreme leader's guarded backing and could lose support from European allies.
Rouhani is also under increasing pressure from Iranian hardliners, including Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, which have kept up the anti-American rhetoric ahead of the U.N. session.
Trump's administration is pushing allies to cut imports of Iranian oil to zero as Washington prepares to restore sanctions on Iran's oil sales in November.
The remaining countries in the deal, which see it as the best chance to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, on Monday agreed to keep working to maintain trade with Tehran.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, following a meeting on Monday with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran in New York, warned that the U.S. strategy of applying maximum pressure on Tehran and going it alone could risk a regional escalation.
TRUMP SLAMS GLOBAL TRADING SYSTEM AT UN
US President Donald Trump slammed the global trading order during his speech at the UN General Assembly, demanding fair and reciprocal trade.
"Many nations in this hall will agree that the world trading system is in dire need of change," Trump said. "Countries were admitted to the World Trade Organization that violate every single principle that the organization is based on."
Slamming a range of practices, including dumping and intellectual property theft, Trump said: "Those days are over: We will no longer tolerate such abuse. We will not allow our workers to be victimized, our companies to be cheated and our wealth to be plundered and transferred." He lashed out at China in particular.
"America will never apologize for protecting its citizens," Trump said.
TRUMP SAYS US WILL ONLY GIVE AID 'TO OUR FRIENDS'
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States would only give aid to countries that it regarded as allies.
"We will examine what is working, what is not working, and whether the countries who receive our dollars and our protection also have our interests at heart," Trump said in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
"Moving forward, we are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and frankly are our friends."
TRUMP GETS A LAUGH IN OPENING OF UN SPEECH
President Donald Trump is highlighting U.S. gains under his watch as he opens his address to the U.N. General Assembly — and is getting a laugh.
Trump told leaders from around the world Tuesday the American economy is "booming like never before" and his administration has accomplished more in less than two years than almost any other administration. His boast elicited laughter from the scores of heads of state and delegates in the audience for the speech.
Trump responded by saying, "I didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK."
Trump says the U.S. is a "stronger, safer and richer country" than when he took office in January 2017. He says "we are standing up for America and for the American people, and we are also standing up for the world."
TRUMP ACCUSES OPEC OF 'RIP-OFF' AS CALLS FOR LOWER PRICES
US President Donald Trump accused members of the OPEC oil cartel of "ripping off" the world on Tuesday as he called for a lowering of fuel prices.
"The United States stands ready to export our abundant affordable supply of oil, clean coal, and natural gas," Trump told the United Nations General Assembly.
"OPEC and OPEC nations are, as usual, ripping off the rest of the world, and I don't like it. Nobody should like it."
TRUMP WARNS GERMANY WILL BE DEPENDENT ON RUSSIAN ENERGY
US President Donald Trump warned European nations not to be dependent on Russian energy in his speech at the UN.
"Germany will become totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course," he said, while praising Poland for developing alternative pipelines.
TRUMP PRAISES N.KOREA'S KIM BUT SAYS SANCTIONS TO REMAIN IN PLACE
U.S. President Donald Trump praised North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday for his courage in taking some steps to disarm, but said much work needed to be done and sanctions must remain in place on North Korea until it denuclearizes.
"The missiles and rockets are no longer flying in every direction, nuclear testing has stopped, some military facilities are already being dismantled," Trump said in his speech to the annual United Nations General Assembly.
"I would like to thank Chairman Kim for his courage and for the steps he has taken, though much work remains to be done," Trump said. "The sanctions will stay in place until denuclearization occurs."
Trump's remarks on North Korea were dramatically different to those in his speech last year at the U.N. assembly, when he threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea and mocked the North Korean leader as "Rocket Man" on a "suicide mission."
TRUMP VOWS US RESPONSE TO ANY SYRIA CHEMICAL ATTACK
President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that the US would respond to any new chemical weapons attack by Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's regime as he called for fresh momentum to be injected into international peace efforts
"The ongoing tragedy in Syria is heartbreaking. Our shared goals must be the de-escalation of military conflict, along with a political solution that honors the will of the Syrian people," Trump said in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
"In this vein, we urge the United Nations-led peace process be reinvigorated. But, rest assured, the United States will respond if chemical weapons are deployed by the Assad regime," added Trump who ordered air strikes on Syria earlier this year after one such suspected attack.
