Page 9 - IRANRptOct21

2.4 Iran’s Raisi tears into ‘hegemon’ US in his first UN speech
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi tore into the US for its treatment of Iran in his first UN speech late on September 21. He castigated the Americans for their sanctions on Tehran, overseas military interventions and the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol building in Washington.
“From the Capitol to Kabul, one clear message was sent to the world: the US′ hegemonic system has no credibility, whether inside or outside the country,” Raisi said.
The speech was delivered remotely in a pre-recorded video message for the UN General Assembly.
Hardline cleric Raisi took over from pragmatic, moderate predecessor Hassan Rouhani in August. Rouhani was known for going the extra mile in attempting to find some kind of rapprochement between the Islamic Republic and the US. But former American president Donald Trump wasn’t interested, instead switching to a hard-as-nails approach to Tehran, which he bombarded with the heaviest sanctions it had ever faced.
“Sanctions are the US′ new way of war with the nations of the world,” Raisi said in his speech, adding that imposing such penalties during the coronavirus pandemic amounted to committing “crimes against humanity”. Iran has previously protested that US sanctions hindered its ability to source vaccines.
US President Joe Biden also delivered his first UN speech as president earlier on September 22. He emphasised that his administration is entirely willing to rejoin and fully comply with the nuclear deal, or JCPOA—which if implemented once more with US and Iranian backing would lift heavy sanctions against Tehran in return for verifiable compliance by Iran with measures aimed at keeping its nuclear development programme entirely civilian in nature—if Tehran agreed to stick to its terms.
“The United States remains committed to preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. We are working with the P5+1 to engage Iran diplomatically and seek a return to the JCPOA,” Biden added.
Raisi in his speech did not rule out returning to negotiations on the JCPOA, but added: “We don’t trust the promises made by the US government.”
Axios on September 22 reported that the US and Israel held secret talks on Iran last week to discuss a possible “plan B” if the nuclear deal talks are not resumed. It cited two senior Israeli officials as confirming the talks.
9 IRAN Country Report October 2021 www.intellinews.com