“We are not preaching moderation,” Rouhani told U. N. delegates. “We are practicing it.”
NEW YORK — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sought to portray himself as a moderate Wednesday compared to President Trump’s bull in the United Nation’s china shop.
Where Trump, in a fiery speech before U. N. delegates, called the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated between Iran and six world powers “an embarrassment,” and threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if it continued to pose a threat to the United States, Rouhani talked of world peace and regional security.
“We are not preaching moderation,” Rouhani told U. N. delegates. “We are practicing it.”
In a news conference later Wednesday, Rouhani described the Iranian election four months ago, where he said 73% of Iran’s eligible voters “once again expressed confidence in my platform with calls for moderation and respect for human rights and prosperity and economic development here, at home, and constructive engagement around the world.”
Iran’s electoral system allows voters to choose between a slate of candidates that is pre-approved by an electoral commission under the control of the Islamic Republic’s religious leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The U. S. State Department says Iran is one of the world’s worst violators of the rights of religious minorities, gays and political dissenters.
Rouhani smiled when confronted by a question about its treatment of Sunni minorities in Iran, a majority-Shiite country.
“We do not differentiate between Sunnis and Shiites,” he said, referring to the two major Muslim sects. Sunnis hold high office in Iran and serve as ambassadors representing Tehran, he said.
“You should know Sunnis were the highest participants among religious minorities in the recent elections and gave me the highest votes.”
And he described Trump’s allegations that Iran supports terrorist groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Syrian government in Syria, and Houthi rebels in Yemen as misguided, though “nothing new, unfortunately.”
“After the tragic terrorist acts of Sept. 11,” the United States launched wars in Afghanistan and Iraq “under the auspices of the fight against terrorism,” he said. “What fight against terrorism did they accomplish? Did they make Afghanistan or Iraq safer or more dangerous?”
“Whoever supports war or terrorist groups in our region is in no position to levy such accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Rouhani said Trump’s performance at the General Assembly debate Tuesday “insulted the Iranian people,” who are now awaiting an apology.
He rejected the idea of a face-to-face meeting with Trump as unrealistic, and dismissed the idea of returning to the negotiating table to forge a new nuclear deal, as some in the U. S. and Europe would like to do.
After years of “extremely tough negotiations” to reach the nuclear deal, “now we see the United States looking for an excuse to break the agreement,” Rouhani said. “An American government that chooses to trample upon her legal and legitimate international commitment, an agreement with such a government would be fruitless at any time.”
And he declined to comment directly on Trump’s character, saying his country’s dealings with the U. S. administration “is only distant so far this year.”
