Iran’s President to Speak at U.N. General Assembly

September speeches will be major opportunity for the newly-elected Rouhani to distinguish himself from his predecessor Ahmadinejad

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President Hassan Rouhani of Iran will attend the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York later this month and deliver three speeches, his foreign minister announced on Wednesday according to the New York Times.

The speeches will be the first big opportunity for the newly-elected Rouhani to distinguish himself from his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose General Assembly speeches invariably included questioning the Holocaust and antagonizing the West, reported Reuters.

Iran is currently engaged in a standoff with the West over its nuclear program and negotiations with world powers have stalled since April, Reuters reports. Rouhani, a relatively moderate cleric, has said that he wishes to improve relations with the West, which reached new lows under former President Ahmadinejad.

[New York Times]
[Reuters]