by Navid Felker
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told the United Nations General Assembly that Tehran will abide by the nuclear deal Iran made with five other countries —Britain, China, France, ¬Germany and Russia —and “will respond decis¬ively to its violation by any party.”
This followed US President Trump’s announcement that he has made up his mind on the future of the nuclear deal with Iran, but once again, won’t publicly reveal his intentions.
“I have decided,” Trump said as U.S. and Iranian officials held talks yesterday. “I’ll let you know.
Rouhani also responded to Trump’s remarks to the U.N. that Iran is “an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos.” Rouhani called the Trump administration “rogue newcomers to the world of politics” and denounced his speech as “ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric.”
Throughout his 2016 presidential campaign, and again on Tuesday, Trump denounced the seven-nation nuclear accord, when he told the United Nations General Assembly it was “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions” the U.S. has ever entered into. However, he didn’t announce any plans to leave it.
Trump has about three weeks to certify whether or not Iran is complying with the agreement, with an October 15th deadline. But, according to Vice President Mike Pence’s statement to the U.N. Security Council, Iran is violating at least the intentions of the agreement. “The world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism continues to flout the spirit of the Iran Deal, destabilizing the region and brazenly threatening the security of sovereign nations,” he said.
Trump had a full day of meetings on the sidelines of the U.N.
He spoke with British Prime Minister Theresa May about trade, foreign policy and defense.
With Jordan’s King Abdullah II, he discussed defeating ISIS.
He spoke by phone with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto about the recent, devastating earthquake. Trump has a problematic relationship with Nieto, stemming from his vow to build a wall between the US and Mexico.
After meeting with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, Trump declared, “we have … maybe the best shot ever” at striking a peace deal in the Middle East.
Still, Trump raised eyebrows at a luncheon with African leaders when he referred to a nonexistent country called “Nambia”. This may have been an amalgamation of Namibia and Zambia.
In a move that surprised his fellow Republicans, Trump has been working more closely with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to extend the debt ceiling, as well as to find a solution for young immigrants, known as “Dreamers”, who brought to the country illegally as children.
It hasn’t seemed to hurt him in the polls. Acc¬ording to a Monmouth University survey released yesterday, some 77 percent of Trump voters said he hasn’t done anything to make them question his principles.
In another poll, Morning Consult showed his approval ratings have risen to 43 percent from a low of 39 percent in August, shortly after his comments about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Meanwhile, Trump’s disapproval rating is at 52 percent.
