Trump blasts Iran in UN speech
US President also praises N. Korea for stopping nuclear and missile tests
NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump blasted Iran yesterday as a "corrupt dictatorship" that is plundering its people to pay for aggression abroad, using his speech to the United Nations General Assembly to threaten more sanctions against Teheran.
"Iran's leaders sow chaos, death and destruction," Mr Trump told the annual gathering. "They do not respect their neighbours or borders or the sovereign rights of nations."
Mr Trump's speech in the green-marbled UN hall, while relatively low key, was aimed squarely at Iran, which the United States accuses of harbouring nuclear ambitions and fomenting instability in the Middle East through its support for militant groups in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
Mr Trump, who said in a Twitter post that he had given up hope for a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani while both were in New York, said he would keep up economic pressure on Teheran to try to force a change in its behaviour.
In May, he withdrew the US from the 2015 international deal to put curbs on Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for an easing of sanctions.
Mr Trump compared US relations with Iran to what he called improved ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom Mr Trump had met in Singapore in June as part of a still-unfulfilled drive to get Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
Yesterday, Mr Trump praised Mr Kim for halting nuclear and missile tests, releasing Americans held prisoner and returning some remains of US soldiers killed in the 1950s Korean War.
Mr Trump attacked the "globalist" view of the world - shared by many at the UN and on the political left in the United States - and vowed: "America will never apologise for protecting its citizens."
He said the UN-backed International Criminal Court has "no jurisdiction, no legitimacy and no authority". His national security adviser John Bolton earlier went so far as to threaten to prosecute judges from the court in The Hague if they take up accusations against US forces in Afghanistan.
"We will never surrender America's sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable global bureaucracy. America is governed by Americans," Mr Trump said.
He threatened to limit aid only to countries that are friendly to the United States.
Mr Trump prompted some murmurs and chuckles from the crowd of world leaders and diplomats when he boasted that he had accomplished more as president than almost any other administration in history.
"I didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay," he said. - REUTERS
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