UNITED NATIONS — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday offered to help root out terrorism in the Middle East and said the United States and its support for Israel are a major cause of the violence.
Rouhani told the U.N. General Assembly that terrorists excuse their brutality as a reaction to the military interventions and occupations of what he termed “newcomers” to the region.
“If not for the U.S. military invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, and its unwarranted support for the inhumane actions of the Zionist regime against the oppressed nation of Palestine, today the terrorists would not have an excuse for the justification of their crimes,” he said.
Rouhani’s speech was closely watched because it was his first address to the world body since Iran finished a landmark nuclear agreement with the United States and five other nations.
He said the deal, finalized in July, marked a “new chapter” in Iran’s dealings with the world, so his swipe at the United States was striking.
Rouhani said the U.S. and its allies in the region — an apparent reference to Israel and the Sunni states in the Persian Gulf — “only cultivate the seeds of extremism and division.”
“This must be brought to an end, and its actions must be made compatible with the realities of the region,” he said.
Rouhani also called for a nuclear-free Middle East, and asked the world “not to allow the Zionist regime to remain the only impediment in the way of realizing this important initiative.”
He said Iran is prepared to help bring democracy to Syria and Yemen. “The gravest threat to the world today is for terrorist organizations to become terrorist states,” he said.
There was no immediate reaction to Rouhani’s remarks from the State Department, which lists Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Rouhani’s U.N. speech reprised the same themes he raised during three meetings he held over the weekend with journalists, Iranian Americans and scholars who specialize in the Middle East.
Rouhani planned to fly back to Tehran immediately after finishing his U.N. speech, canceling a news conference scheduled for Tuesday.
The Iranian mission to the United Nations said he was heading home “due to the tragic events at this year’s Hajj.”
Rouhani’s early departure closes off any possibility that he will meet with family members of the three Iranian Americans who are imprisoned in Iran.
