25 Sep 2013

Hassan Rouhani tells UN: ‘Peace is within reach’

President Hassan Rouhani tells world leaders at the United Nations general assembly that Iran is ready to talk about its nuclear programme, but warns against military intervention in Syria.

President Rouhani, in his first speech to the United Nations, sent signals that Iran might be ready to negotiate with the west on its disputed nuclear programme and talk to the United States after decades of frozen relations.

He said “peace is within reach.”

Mr Rouhani spoke hours after President Obama also addressed the general assembly, saying the US prefers to resolve its concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme peacefully but is determined to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.

Mr Obama said he was “encouraged” that President Rouhani received a mandate from the Iranian people to pursue a more moderate course, but added that “the diplomatic road must be tested”.

Mr Rouhani’s “conciliatory words will have to be matched by actions that are transparent and verifiable,” President Obama said.

Chemical weapons threat

Mr Rouhani also said that that the biggest danger in the Middle East is chemical weapons falling into the hands of “extremist terrorist groups” in Syria and he blamed the countries backing the opposition for fuelling the civil war there.

His comments closely mirrored language used by the Iranian-allied Syrian regime, which refers to the opposition as terrorists.

The US and its allies, including Gulf nations Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have been supplying the Syrian opposition with weapons, aid and training.

Mr Rouhani praised Syria’s willingness to accept the international treaty barring the use of chemical weapons.

And without naming nations, he warned that the “illegitimate and ineffective threat” to use military force in Syria “will only lead to further exacerbation of violence and crisis in the region”.

Mr Rouhani is considered a relative moderate amid the hard-line clerics who control Iran. But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei holds the real power, deciding all important matters of state including the nuclear programme.