As President Trump spoke of a stark choice between rebuilding Iran and annihilating it on Tuesday, other world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly warned of the dangers posed by division and unilateral action, underscoring the deep divide between the visions of the president and his counterparts around the globe.
Mr. Trump used his address near the start of the day to defend the war he launched alongside Israel in February, even as allies have begun to openly question whether the United States remains a credible partner.
In hours of speeches, a parade of world leaders largely avoided criticizing Mr. Trump and the military operations he ordered against Iran and Venezuela since they gathered last year.
Instead, there were oblique references — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil indirectly rebuffed U.S. criticism over organized crime and emphasized the right to self determination of the Venezuelan people — and broad calls for cooperation. In remarks that seemed aimed at both the United States and Russia, President Emmanuel Macron of France warned against a world characterized by the “law of the jungle.”
Mr. Trump, the second world leader to speak at the gathering, used his remarks to celebrate his military operation in Venezuela this year, when the United States expanded access and control over that country’s vast oil reserves. But he saved his strongest words for Iran, raising the prospect of driving it “into hell with no chance of survival” from a podium where world leaders typically champion peace and global harmony.
“I have a big decision to make,” he said. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”
President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran is scheduled to address the gathering on Wednesday, and his remarks will be closely watched. Iran’s armed forces, in a statement carried by state media, criticized Mr. Trump’s remarks as an “exploitation of the U.N.’s podium to legitimize aggression, insecurity and global banditry.”
Mr. Trump, in remarks rife with falsehoods and exaggerations, also claimed credit for ending the war in Gaza, despite a plan to disarm Hamas and withdraw Israeli troops stalling for months; humanitarian conditions there remain dire.
Several speakers were direct in their criticism of Israel. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, condemned the country as having “a genocidal mind-set,” and Israel’s delegates left the assembly hall during his remarks. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, later called the situation in Gaza “a genocide in every sense of the word.”
The multiday General Assembly sessions will examine a wide variety of topics, including climate change, threats posed by A.I., the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and a possible two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians.
Here’s what else to expect:
Notable speeches: Prime Minister Andy Burnham of Britain was set to speak later in the day. In addition to Iran’s president, Mr. Pezeshkian, Wednesday’s speakers are scheduled to include President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
Ukraine: During a meeting with Mr. Zelensky on the sidelines of the assembly, Mr. Trump said he believed President Vladimir Putin of Russia was “willing to meet” to end the full-scale war between the two countries that began more than four years ago. Mr. Zelensky said he hoped Ukraine’s war with Russia would end “before winter” and that the Trump administration would help the country end the conflict.
Middle East: France, Britain and Canada were scheduled to host a meeting on a two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians, a smaller, more low-key follow-up on last year’s spotlight conference on the issue.
U.N. leadership search: António Guterres, delivering his final address to the assembled world leaders as U.N. secretary general, opened the gathering by warning that “the fault lines in our world are widening.” The global body is searching for its next leader, who will take the helm in January. Seven candidates are vying for the role, but no clear front-runner has emerged, diplomats said.
Absent leaders: A number of world leaders are absent from the General Assembly. One is Xi Jinping, China’s leader, who will travel to Washington later this week to see Mr. Trump, and their meeting is expected to overshadow the speeches at the Assembly. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, and South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, are not attending.
- Credits: The New York Times
- Author: Farnaz Fassihi, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, David E. Sanger and Mark Landler
