Trump hits out at Iran’s ‘bloody agenda’ in return to US patriotism
US President Donald Trump upped his criticism of Iran in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly this afternoon, in which he accused its leadership of running a "corrupt dictatorship" with a "bloody agenda".
He told the body that the Iranian leadership is sowing "chaos, death and destruction", adding that "they do not respect their neighbours or borders or the sovereign right of nations".
The news comes as relations between the two countries have been fraught since May, when Trump decided to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. He re-imposed sanctions on Iran last month.
Read more: Theresa May says she trusts President Trump
As he made his way to give his speech, Trump told reporters that he would not hold a meeting with any Iranian officials unless Tehran opts to "change its tune".
"Iran has acted very badly. We look forward to having a great relationship with Iran, but it won't happen now," he added.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani later hit back at the US leader, telling the General Assembly: "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."
Read more: EU to set up special payment channel to bypass Trump's Iran sanctions
Trump also used his address to inform fellow world leaders that he had instructed US secretary of state Mike Pompeo to review US foreign aid contributions, saying that from now on it will only give aid to "our friends" who "respect us".
"America is governed by Americans. We reject the ideology of globalism and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism," he said.
He led a further attack on the International Criminal Court and the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the latter of which received a laugh from the floor as he accused OPEC of taking advantage of the US with rising oil prices and "I don't like it".
The speech marked a significant change in tone from his address in 2017 which focused on deteriorating ties with North Korea. Instead, the US president said ongoing denuclearisation talks were "doing very well".