President Trump on Tuesday unleashed an aggressive attack on Iran during his address to the UN General Assembly — calling the Islamic regime a brutal dictatorship that neglects its own citizens and exports terror across the Mideast.
“Iran’s leaders sow chaos, death, and destruction. They do not respect their neighbors or borders or the sovereign rights of nations. Instead, Iran’s leaders [use the] nation’s resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond,” the president said.
Trump delivered his remarks in a slow, steady cadence that belied his aggressive rhetoric.
“The Iranian people are rightly outraged that their leaders have embezzled billions of dollars from Iran’s treasure, 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. Not good,” he declared.
He then claimed that other countries in the Middle East had supported his decision to pull out of the Iranian nuclear deal.
AP“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 percent. 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 said.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump said he would not meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani — who had made no request for a sitdown with the commander-in-chief — but signaled he was open to a future meeting, despite ongoing tensions over Tehran’s nuclear deal.
“Iran has to change its tune before we meet with them. We look forward to having a great relationship with Iran, but it won’t happen now,” Trump told reporters before his address to the General Assembly
Rouhani had said on Monday Tehran would not talk to Trump until the US returned to the 2015 deal, though Trump insisted the Iranians had sought a sitdown.
“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.
