|
TEHRAN, Sept. 21-- Iranian leaders on Thursday reacted strongly to the recent anti-Iran remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump, saying such hostile words will not intimidate the Islamic republic. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced as "foolish" Trump's speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that accused Tehran of "destabilizing" the Middle East and "supporting terror." "That foolish, extremely ugly and hideous speech by the U.S. president, with its gangster and cowboy language fraught with sheer lies, stems from their fury and frustration," Khamenei told a meeting with members of Iran's Assembly of Experts. Trump also called the Iran nuclear deal, reached during former U.S. President Barack Obama's administration in 2017, "an embarrassment" for the United States, indicating that he may not recertify the deal at its mid-October deadline. Trump's hostile speech against Iran at the United Nations did not bring any pride to the United States, said Khamenei. "The American elite should be ashamed of having such a president," Khamenei said. Washington's anger is also rooted in its failure to advance its agenda in the West Asia, where Iran has played an influential, dignified and successful role, he said. A day earlier, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed Trump's speech as "ignorant and spiteful." Trump's "rhetoric against Iran was ignorant and spiteful, abundant with false information and baseless allegations," Rouhani said, addressing the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. | 
