Haley: Trump’s Iran deal criticism is not a clear sign he’ll withdraw

President Hassan Rouhani of Iran has used a speech to the UN General Assembly to hit back at Donald Trump over the U.S. president’s criticisms of his country and its 2015 nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani yesterday defended the nuclear deal at the United Nations, saying it was an internationally-backed accord whose fate could not be decided by “one or two countries”.

“By violating its global commitments, the new US administration only destroys its own credibility and undermines worldwide confidence in negotiating with it or accepting its word or promise”, Rouhani continued.

“It’s not a clear signal that he plans to withdraw”.

Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from the United Nations headquarters in NY, described Rouhani’s address as “a carefully crafted speech”.

Bush, a former presidential candidate himself until Trump secured the Republican Party’s nomination last year, criticized Obama’s handling of the nuclear deal with Iran, and said Trump found himself in a tough position when he took over the White House this year.

Then the translator changed the content of the speech when Trump launched his scathing attack on the Iranian regime.

Trump’s speech was “very combative, accusatory, strong and focused on America being closed in on itself”, while Rouhani underlined that his country would remain committed to the nuclear deal and to making Iran’s economy more attractive to foreign companies and investment, she said.

On Wednesday, Trump said he already has made a decision on what to do, but he would not say what it is.

“I have decided”, Trump told reporters three times Wednesday morning as he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Mark Farha, assistant professor at Doha Institute, told Al Jazeera Trump was being ambiguous on objective. With each member nation acting in its own self-interest, Trump posits, the U.N. would operate less as a world body and more as a group of sovereign nations, each working cooperatively while tackling major challenges and each sharing the cost burden.

“For facing a country whose president overtly and blatantly shouts at the lectern of the United Nations that it would “totally destroy” with its military power, no option is left but to strengthen the defensive infrastructures”, he said. Fixing the deal requires many things, among them inspecting military and any other site that is suspect, and penalizing Iran for every violation. Under the agreement, Iran has halted nuclear development in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

French President Emmanuel Macron said it would be a mistake to pull out of the pact.

“We can not let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities while building unsafe missiles”, Trump said. Making his debut appearance at the annual meeting, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Iran of exporting “violence, bloodshed and chaos” and of seeking to project its influence in Yemen, Syria and elsewhere in a region rife with sectarian conflicts between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

“It’s extremely worrying”, Lavrov said.

“I think we should enforce the hell out of the agreement and thereby force compliance on the part of Iran”, Mr. Royce said on CNN on Tuesday.