Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addresses the 72nd session of United Nations General Assembly on the second day of the general debate at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said here Wednesday that his country will preserve an international deal on Iran's nuclear program, but decisive response would be made to possible violation by the United States.
"I declare before you that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not be the first country to violate the agreement. But it will respond decisively and resolutely to its violation by any party," Rouhani told the UN General Assembly.
He was in a clear response to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat that Washington may pull out of the deal spearheaded by his predecessor Barack Obama. The deal was reached in July 2015 between Tehran and the six world powers of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.
"It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics," said Rouhani, throwing the word "rogue" back to Trump, who on Tuesday called Iran a "rogue" state and the Iran nuclear deal "an embarrassment."
Rouhani said Trump's "ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric filled with ridiculously baseless allegations" and was unfit to be heard at the United Nations, which was established to promote peace and respect between nations.
He reiterated that the defense capabilities of Iran, including its missiles, are solely defensive deterrence and that his country had never intended to acquire nuclear weapons.
