UANI President, Dr. Gary Samore, Issues Statement Regarding Rouhani UNGA Address

Those who expected a dramatic departure are disappointed. This address was surprisingly similar to what we are used to hearing from Iran, both in tone and substance. Rouhani's words were far more contentious than many were expecting--particularly in leading with Iran's typical bill of particulars against the United States and the West, minimized only by not referring to the U.S. and Israel by name. Given the Iranian regime's conciliatory public affairs campaign in the run-up to the UNGA, this speech was disappointing and missed the opportunity to take up President Obama's offer to pursue a bilateral diplomatic path with Iran and even meet personally with Rouhani.

Nonetheless, we do agree with one sentence of President Rouhani's speech: it is Iran's obligation to alleviate the world's concerns with its nuclear program. Had the rest of the speech spoken to those same concerns, a diplomatic rapprochement would seem far more likely. Instead, Rouhani repeated Iran's long-standing demand that its right to enrichment be recognized as a basis for resolving the nuclear issue--a condition the U.S. and other P5+1 countries have consistently rejected. 

UANI announced Dr. Samore as UANI's new President yesterday. He recently served as President Obama's Coordinator for WMD Counter-Terrorism and Arms Control.