UAE: Iran’s allegations baseless

SHARP DIVIDE BETWEEN US AND UNEASY ALLIES IN THE SPOTLIGHT AS WORLD LEADERS AT ANNUAL MEETING LOOK FOR PROGRESS AND RETURN OF DIPLOMACY

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused Gulf states of supporting the gunmen who killed at least 25 people in an attack on a military parade in Ahvaz in southwest Iran.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar Gargash said such incitement against the UAE from within Iran was unfortunate. “It has escalated after the Ahvaz attack. The UAE’s historical position against terrorism and violence is clear and Tehran’s allegations are baseless,” Gargash tweeted.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry also signalled that the individuals behind the Ahvaz shooting may have had ties to some European countries. It summoned diplomats from Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands early yesterday, the official Irna and state-run Tasnim news agencies reported.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is willing to meet Iran’s Hassan Rouhani when world leaders gather at the UN this week, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said. Trump will address the UN General Assembly tomorrow and host a meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, in all of which Trump’s claim that the Iran nuclear deal failed will dominate. US ambassador to UN Nikki Haley said that “every dangerous spot in the world - Iran seems to have its fingerprints in it”.

President Donald Trump made quite a splash at the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders last year. Addressing the UN General Assembly, he blasted North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as ‘Rocket Man’, threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea and warned of global peril from “loser terrorists” and the “wicked few.” It was standing room only for presidents, prime ministers and diplomats curious about America’s most undiplomatic president.

When Trump returns to the UN tomorrow, he is expected to claim that his brash diplomacy has eased tensions with North Korea and that Daesh is on the run. He also will discuss the opioid crisis, the danger of nuclear proliferation and his “foreign policy success,” according to Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN.

Divergent vision

She said Trump also will make it clear that he does not see international alliances and organisations — including UN agencies — as other presidents have.

“He’ll also lay down a marker that while the US is generous, we’re going to be generous to those who share our values, generous to those who want to work with us, and not those that try and stop the United States or say they hate America, or are counterproductive to what we’re doing,” Haley said.

Here is what lies ahead on the agenda this week as the 73rd UN General Assembly gets under way today:

IRAN

Iran may bear the brunt of Trump’s harshest rhetoric this year for what the administration considers its malign behaviour, including support for militants in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere.

Trump plans to repeat his claim that the Iran nuclear deal failed, and is likely to scold Europeans for continuing to try to salvage the international agreement that Trump withdrew from in May. The increasingly strident US rhetoric against Iran is expected to be a feature in US speeches. Haley said that “every dangerous spot in the world — Iran seems to have its fingerprints in it”.

Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement in May. Foreign ministers of the five remaining powers who support the deal are expected to privately meet Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif today.

NORTH KOREA

The diplomatic gathering will take stock of the thaw in relations between North and South Korea, and groundbreaking US-North Korea moves to address the threat from Pyongyang’s nuclear missile programmes. Last year, Trump threatened to totally destroy North Korea and belittled Kim as ‘Rocket Man on a suicide mission.’

While at the UN, Trump is expected to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to receive a private message from Kim. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will preside over the second meeting Thursday on North Korea, an issue the Security Council was united on in imposing increasingly tough sanctions. But that unity now appears to be at risk over enforcement of sanctions and the broader issues of how to achieve denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

MIDDLE EAST

The seven-year-old conflict in Syria and the three-year war in Yemen that has sparked a humanitarian crisis will certainly be in the spotlight, along with meetings on other Mideast hot spots. But struggling with tighter budgets from US cuts, the UN has been put on the defensive as its peace efforts in Syria, Libya and Yemen fall short.

Multilateralism is under attack from many different directions precisely when we need it most. The trust of states among each other has been eroded.”

Antonio Guterres | UN Secretary-General

While the US is generous, we’re going to be generous to those who share our values, generous to those who want to work with us, and not those that try and stop the US.”

Nikki Haley | US ambassador to the UN

Populism, intolerance and oppression are becoming fashionable again… It all builds, because once you start down the path of intolerance, it’s very difficult to stop it.”

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussain | UN humanitarian chief

DRUG PROBLEM

Trump is hosting an event today on ‘The World Drug Problem’ and Haley said 124 countries have signed a global call to action. Activists on drug policy note it was never negotiated, and one group, the Harm Reduction Coalition, called it “an instance of heavy-handed US ‘with us or against us’ diplomacy.”

PALESTINE AND OTHER ISSUES

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the United Nations has received 342 requests for meetings during the high-level week. They includes sessions on conflicts in Libya, Mali and Central African Republic, as well as the plight of the Rohingya in Myanmar, aid for Palestinians, education for girls, modern slavery, environmental threats, efforts to end poverty, and the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Asked what are the big issues, Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said: “All of them are big issues — nonproliferation, cooperation, the world peace architecture — it’s every

year, but this year it’s maybe more topical than ever.”

TRUMP TO PRESIDE OVER SECURITY COUNCIL

He has chaired board meetings, cabinet meetings and starred in a reality television show, but on Wednesday Trump will wield the gavel in the UN Security Council to denounce Iran for what it sees as its malign regional behaviour. Trump is able to preside over the 15-member council as the United States holds the monthly rotating presidency, which coincides with the annual gathering of the UN. “I am sure that’s going to be the most watched Security Council meeting ever,” Nikki Haley said. But despite the unpredictable nature of Trump, some diplomats aren’t expecting a reality television performance. “I don’t think it will be that entertaining at all,” said one senior UN diplomat. “Even those who don’t like him, the attitude of all other heads of state and government in a public meeting when faced with any president of the United States of America is to be on their best behaviour,” the diplomat said.