One year after threatening North Korea before the General Assembly, the U. S. president targets Iran.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday attacked Iran in a heated speech at the United Nations General Assembly, in what sounded like an update of an address he made one year ago at the same venue railing against North Korea. But Iran’s leader made it clear hours later that Trump shouldn’t expect similar results when it comes to negotiating with Tehran.
Trump on Tuesday repeated his criticism of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal ― which the U. S. withdrew from in May ― and accused Iranian leaders of supporting terrorism and corruption and of sowing chaos in the Middle East. He vowed to impose more economic sanctions against Iran and called for the country’s international isolation.
Just as with North Korea last time around, Trump’s attacks come as he seeks to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran. The president’s rhetoric toward Iran has echoed the threats, insults and occasional diplomatic overtures he used ahead of negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear program earlier this year. In those negotiations, he took an aggressive initial stance before agreeing to a summit and drastically softening his tone on the country.
While the ongoing North Korean nuclear negotiations helped de-escalate a potential military conflict, something Trump’s rhetoric stirred widespread concern over, it’s still unclear what the end result of the process will be. Trump, however, has lauded the negotiations as a major achievement and claimed on Tuesday that talks with North Korea were going great and that he would soon have another summit with leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump may be looking for a similar deal with Iran. He has repeatedly promised he will negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran that would be more effective than an agreement engineered by former President Barack Obama and five other nations to lift economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for the country halting its nuclear program.
