Iranian President Hassan Rouhani did not use Donald Trump’s name in his UN General Assembly response to the US president’s earlier speech on September 25 but there was no doubt in anyone’s mind as to whom he was referring to when he said: “Confronting multilateralism is not a sign of strength, rather it is a symptom of a weakness of intellect.”

Trump has plunged Iran into economic turmoil by unilaterally withdrawing from the multilateral nuclear deal and unleashing renewed heavy sanctions against Tehran, forcing swathes of foreign investors and traders to abandon business with the country. He redoubled his attacks on the Islamic Republic in his address to the Assembly.

Rouhani, in his remarks at the New York headquarters of the UN, lambasted leaders who believe they can “ride public sentiments and gain popular support through the fomenting of extremist nationalism and racism” and through what he referred to as “xenophobic tendencies resembling a Nazi disposition”.

The world, he said, was “suffering from the recklessness and disregard of some states for international values and institutions”.

Referring to the efforts of nuclear deal signatories the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China to salvage the accord, Rouhani said: “We are pleased that the international community did not acquiesce to the US’s illegal and unilateral withdrawal from that agreement.”

He accused the Trump administration of violating “state obligations” from the Barack Obama administration by withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal that was signed after painstaking negotiations. “On what basis and criteria can we enter into an agreement with an administration misbehaving such as this?” Rouhani asked. “It is ironic that the US government does not even conceal its plan for overthrowing the same government it invites to talks.”

The Iranian president, a centrist and pragmatist under pressure from hardliners back home for trusting the US enough to join it in striking the nuclear agreement in the first place, said “unlawful, unilateral sanctions in themselves constitute a form of economic terrorism”.

“Grapes of wrath”
“No state and nation can be brought to the negotiation table by force and if so what follows is the accumulation of the grapes of wrath ... to be reaped later by the oppressors,” said Rouhani.

He added: “Our proposal is clear, commitment for commitment. Violation for violation. Threat for threat. And step for step. Instead of talk for talk.”

"The United States' understanding of international relations is authoritarian. In its estimation might makes right. Its understanding of power, not of legal and legitimate authority, is reflected in bullying and imposition," went on Rouhani.

Describing the Israel-Palestine conflict as the most pressing crisis in the Middle East, Rouhani said Iran was not interested in war with any country. “Iran does not need an empire. Iran is an empire in terms of its civilisation and culture, not political domination.”

Outlining Iran’s history of combatting terrorism, he concluded:  “The world will not have a better friend than Iran, if peace is what you seek.” 

“Chaos, death and destruction”
After taking to the podium earlier in the day, Trump gave his trademark castigation of the Iranians, claiming that "Iran's leaders sow chaos, death and destruction". Calling on other countries to completely isolate Iran, he added: "They do not respect their neighbours or borders or the sovereign rights of nations. Instead, Iran's leaders plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond."

Trump is intent on wreaking such economic destruction in Iran that Tehran will come to the table to renegotiate its role in conflict-torn parts of the Middle East including Syria and Yemen, its approach to the existence of Israel and its ballistic missile and nuclear development programmes.

Some critics saw the American president’s speech as bombastic and terribly simplistic and one-sided. For instance, in speaking of the conflict in Syria he blamed Iran, but made no mention of Russia, which has provided crucial air support for the Damascus regime. In referring to the war in Yemen, he said nothing about how Iranian arch-rival Saudi Arabia is facing claims that it is guilty of war crimes in mounting bombing raids such as an allegedly negligent attack on a school bus that killed dozens of children. And his comments on how he sees Iran’s leaders as sowing death and destruction and embezzling “billions of dollars” were made just hours after he sent a tweet saying that, while he would not be meeting him, he was sure that Rouhani was an “absolutely lovely man”.

Blunt remarks from Bolton
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported remarks released by US National Security Advisor John Bolton while Rouhani was still talking. He used blunt language to dismiss any entreaties from Tehran, calling the nuclear deal the US walked out of “the worst diplomatic debacle in American history”.

“According to the mullahs in Tehran, we are ‘the Great Satan,’ lord of the underworld, master of the raging inferno,” Bolton said in remarks prepared for delivery at a New York meeting convened to oppose Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“So, I might imagine they would take me seriously when I assure them today: If you cross us, our allies, or our partners; if you harm our citizens; if you continue to lie, cheat, and deceive, yes, there will indeed be HELL to PAY.”

The capitalisations were included in the text of the quotes released to journalists.