Trump attacks Iran’s leaders, defends exit from nuclear deal
NEW YORK: President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani traded barbs Tuesday in speeches just hours apart at the United Nations as the US pressed its campaign to isolate the Islamic Republic with new oil sanctions coming in November.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Mr Trump charged that Iran’s leaders “sow chaos, death and destruction” and he called on the rest of the world to join his administration’s “economic pressure” offensive against the nation. Mr Rouhani accused Mr Trump of “economic terrorism” and an “authoritarian” approach to international relations.
The Trump administration is trying win global support — or at least acquiescence — for sanctions the US has imposed on Iran following his withdrawal in May from the 2015 international accord curbing Iran’s nuclear program negotiated by former President Barack Obama. The administration is holding events highlighting its policies against Iran almost every day this week.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump will host a Security Council session officially focused on non-proliferation, but the president has made clear that he intends to discuss Iranian actions at the meeting. On Friday, the State Department is hosting an event focusing on human rights issue in Iran, featuring people it said were former political prisoners.
But in a sign of international resistance to the US stance, foreign ministers from France, the UK, China, Russia and the EU all met on Monday night to discuss ways to keep the nuclear deal alive.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said after the meeting that the European Union will establish a mechanism to protect European companies’ financial dealings with Iran from the impact of US sanctions in a bid to keep Iranian nuclear agreement alive. And French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that Trump’s Iran policy was partly to blame for higher oil prices the US leader has criticized.
“If he goes to the end of his logic, he’ll see that it’s good for the oil price that Iran can sell it,” Mr Macron said, adding that the president was trying to counter the basic market forces of supply and demand.
But it’s not clear whether the financing mechanism the Europeans are discussing would work, or be sufficient to persuade companies to remain committed to business in Iran.
US Secretary of Secretary Mike Pompeo attacked the European effort at an antiIran event in New York on Tuesday as “one of the most counterproductive measures imaginable”. National Security Adviser John Bolton piled on, saying “the European Union is strong on rhetoric and weak on follow through.”
“So we will be watching the development of this structure that doesn’t exist yet and has no target date to be created,” Bolton said. “We do not intend to allow our sanctions to be evaded by Europe or anybody else.”
Yet Mr Trump’s leverage over Iran has been clear since he withdrew from the agreement in May and the US began phasing in sanctions. The country’s currency, the rial, has weakened, inflation and unemployment have climbed and oil exports are falling. Mr Trump said Tuesday he wants to see countries significantly cutting their Iranian oil imports by the time new sanctions hit in early November.
“We ask all nations to isolate Iran’s regime as long as its aggression continues,” he said.
Mr Rouhani said in an interview with NBC News on Monday that Mr Trump’s pressure campaign would not bring his government to the negotiating table. The US would have to first re-join the nuclear accord negotiated during the Obama era, he said.
“That bridge must be rebuilt,” Mr Rouhani said.