Iran's president told the UN General Assembly Tuesday that the United States could impose "neither negotiations nor war" on the Islamic Republic amid heightened tension between the longtime foes over Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
"Iran is not a bargaining chip in US elections and domestic policy...Any US administration after the upcoming (US) elections will have no choice but to surrender to the resilience of the Iranian nation," Hassan Rouhani told the annual UN gathering in a video message.
The US-Iranian confrontation has ratcheted up since 2018 when President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and unilaterally reimposed sanctions that have hobbled the Islamic Republic’s economy.
The Trump administration Monday slapped new sanctions on Iran to support the US assertion that all United Nations sanctions against Tehran that were lifted under the 2015 agreement are now reinstated.
That move was rejected by key European allies as well as US adversaries such as Russia and China who are all parties to the nuclear accord.
In his address to the General Assembly, French President Emmanuel Macron said the Trump's administration's "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran had so far failed. Macron dismissed US efforts to restore UN sanctions against Tehran as Washington had already left the nuclear deal.