U.S. President Donald Trump took aim at Iran on Tuesday as the General Debate of the 73rd Session of the U.N. General Assembly got underway.
"We cannot allow the world's leading sponsor of terrorism to possess the planet's most dangerous weapons. We cannot allow a regime that chants 'Death to America' and that threatens Israel with annihilation, to possess the means to deliver a nuclear warhead to any city on earth. Just can't do it," Trump told world leaders.
The American president, who was expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, lashed out at the Islamic republic for sowing "chaos, death, and destruction," vowing to counter its aggression.
"They do not respect their neighbors or borders, or the sovereign rights of nations," Trump said.
"Instead, Iran's leaders plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond. … Iran's neighbors have paid a heavy toll for the region's [regime's] agenda of aggression and expansion. That is why so many countries in the Middle East strongly supported my decision to withdraw the United States from the horrible 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reimpose nuclear sanctions."
Trump noted that his decision to pull out of the nuclear accord with Iran in May was part the effort to restrain Iran rather than punish its citizens, who have seen their benefits of the deal squandered on the regime's regional ambitions rather than on improving their lives.
"The Iranian people are rightly outraged that their leaders have embezzled billions of dollars from Iran's treasury, seized valuable portions of the economy, and looted the people's religious endowments, all to line their own pockets and send their proxies to wage war.
"The Iran deal was a windfall for Iran's leaders. In the years since the deal was reached, Iran's military budget grew nearly 40%. The dictatorship used the funds to build nuclear-capable missiles, increase internal repression, finance terrorism, and fund havoc and slaughter in Syria and Yemen."
He asked that "all nations to isolate Iran's regime as long as its aggression continues."
Trump also touted his administration's new approach to the peace process, saying he had no regrets about his decision to depart from the traditional U.S. policy regarding the status of Jerusalem.
"This year, we also took another significant step forward in the Middle East. In recognition of every sovereign state to determine its own capital, I moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem," Trump said.
"The United States is committed to a future of peace and stability in the region, including peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. That aim is advanced, not harmed, by acknowledging the obvious facts."
Trump also doubled down on his attacks on the U.N. Human Rights Council over its bias toward Israel and the United States. "I spoke before this body last year and warned that the U.N. Human Rights Council had become a grave embarrassment to this institution, shielding egregious human rights abusers while bashing America and its many friends," he said, noting that after realizing that the council failed to change course, "the U.S. took the only responsible course: We withdrew from the Human Rights Council, and we will not return until real reform is enacted."
He further reiterated his administration's decision to boycott the International Criminal Court in the Hague, saying that it too has shown a consistent bias toward United States and its allies. "For similar reasons, the United States will provide no support in recognition to the International Criminal Court. As far as America is concerned, the ICC has no jurisdiction, no legitimacy, and no authority.
"The ICC claims near-universal jurisdiction over the citizens of every country, violating all principles of justice, fairness, and due process. We will never surrender America's sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy."
Trump's address was met largely by silence from world leaders still not comfortable with go-it-alone views that have strained U.S. relationships with traditional allies worldwide.
His speech, while delivered in a low-key fashion, was nonetheless a thunderous recitation of his "America First" policies. He has disrupted the world order by withdrawing the United States from the nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord and threatened to punish NATO nations for not paying more for their common defense.
Trump said he had accomplished more than almost any previous U.S. president. The remark led to some murmuring and laughter in the crowd, taking the president slightly aback. "I didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK," he said.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani later spoke at the event as well, sharply criticizing Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 international nuclear deal.
He said he had "no need for a photo opportunity" with Trump and suggested the U.S. president's pull back from global institutions was a character defect.
"Confronting multilateralism is not a sign of strength. Rather it is a symptom of the weakness of intellect – it betrays an inability in understanding a complex and interconnected world," he said. Rouhani was defiant in his speech to the world body.
"What Iran says is clear: no war, no sanctions, no threats, no bullying; just acting according to the law and the fulfillment of obligations," Rouhani said. "Unlawful unilateral sanctions in themselves constitute a form of economic terrorism," he said, accusing the United States of bullying and stressed that no state or nation can be brought to the negotiation table by force.
He said that Iran was willing to engage the United States if it stops with its "threats and unjust sanctions that negate the principle of ethics and international law."
Rouhani said that "the biggest crisis the world is facing is the occupation in Palestine," adding that "the Israeli crimes would not be possible without the political backing of the United States."
