New Iranian president blasts Israel, US sanctions in UN debut speech

In his maiden speech at the United Nations on Tuesday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi denounced both Israel and the United States for its sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

“Sanctions are the U.S.’s new way of war with the nations of the world,” said Raisi.

The Iranian president omitted any reference to the fact that Washington’s sanctions against Iran are a consequence of Tehran’s nuclear weapons program and military aggression throughout the Middle East and beyond.

Instead, Raisi inaccurately portrayed the U.S. as an imperialist power seeking to undermine Iran’s Islamic identity. 

“What is seen in our region today proves that not only the hegemonist and the idea of hegemony, but also the project of imposing Westernized identity, have failed miserably,” said Raisi.

The Iranian president also claimed that America is losing and is being expelled from the Muslim world. 

“Today, the U.S. does not get to exit Iraq and Afghanistan, but is expelled,” he said. 

Raisi expressed hope that the nuclear talks would lead to “the lifting of all oppressive sanctions” against Tehran. The Iranian president denied that the ayatollah regime is seeking nuclear weapons by repeating Tehran’s mantra – which Israel warns carries no meaning – that nuclear weapons “have no place in our defense doctrine and deterrence policy.” 

During his UN speech, the Iranian president reserved his most vitriolic remarks for the Jewish state, which the Iranian regime regularly threatens with destruction. 

“The occupier Zionist regime is the organizer of the biggest state terrorism, whose agenda is to slaughter women and children,” Raisi claimed without providing any concrete evidence of the claim. The Islamic regime in Tehran does not recognize Israel’s existence and regularly refers to the Jewish state as “the occupier Zionist regime.” 

The Iranian regime, however, is widely considered the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, responsible for terrorist plots throughout the Middle East and across the globe. 

Raisi also blasted the Jewish state’s blockade against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. 

“An all-out blockade has turned Gaza into the biggest prison in the world,” he said. 

While the Iranian president expressed concern for human rights in Gaza, international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, regularly criticize Iran as one of the worst human rights violators in the world. 

In 2019, Iran executed more than 250 individuals – some of them minors – more than any other country in the world except China. The ayatollah regime regularly oppresses women and ethnic and religious minorities. 

The Israeli Foreign Ministry rejected Raisi’s speech as propaganda and warned that Iran constitutes a threat to the Middle East and world peace. 

“Raisi continues to fool the international community in a speech filled with lies and cynicism. Iran’s ayatollah regime constitutes a clear and immediate threat to the Middle East and world peace,” the Foreign Ministry said. “The international community must condemn the Iranian regime and prevent any possibility of nuclear capabilities and weapons falling into the hands of these extremists.”