Iran slams Trump's 'ignorant hate speech' at UN

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has described US President Donald Trump's speech at the UN General Assembly as "ignorant, empty and populist", after the latter criticised Tehran and called the nuclear deal with it as "an embarrassment".

"Trump's ignorant hate speech belongs in medieval times, nor the 21st century UN, unworthy of a reply. Fake empathy for Iranians fools no one," Zarif wrote on his Twitter account shortly after the US President's maiden address at the UN on Tuesday.

Zarif said Trump's speech demonstrated the ignorance and populist behaviour of the US President regarding foreign policy, the country's official news agency IRNA reported.

He said US support for Israel and dictatorial regimes in the region and the creation and backing of terrorist groups would only result in greater isolation and irrelevance of the US government in the world.

Trump said at the UN General Assembly that the nuclear agreement reached by his country and others with Iran in 2015 was an "embarrassment" that his government may abandon if it suspected that "it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear programme".

"We cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities while building dangerous missiles," the US President said.

The nuclear deal involves the monitoring and limitation of Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.

--IANS

soni/dg