Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday said that the U.S. is exuding a “Nazi disposition” under President Trump.
“It is unfortunate,” Rouhani said while speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “We are witnessing rulers in the world ride public sentiments and gain popular support through the fomenting of extremist nationalism and racism and through xenophobic tendencies resembling a Nazi disposition, as well as through the trampling of global rules and undermining international institutions.”
{mosads}Rouhani did not directly refer to Trump in the Nazi comments, but he did note the U.S. sanctions on his country and referred to them as “economic terrorism,” making it clear that he was targeting the U.S. president’s rhetoric.
Among other things, Rouhani said that “confronting multilateralism is not a sign of strength,” but “a symptom of a weakness of intellect.”
“The economic war that the United States has initiated under the rubric of new sanctions not only targets the Iranian people but also entails harmful repercussions for the people of other countries, and that war has caused a disruption in the state of global trade,” he said.
The comments came as tensions continue to escalate between the Trump administration and Iran.
Earlier this year, Trump reestablished sanctions on the nation after he pulled the U.S. out of a nuclear agreement with Iran and five other countries. The sanctions are set to be reimposed in November.
Like Rouhani, Trump took aim at Iran while speaking at the U.N. General Assembly. Among other things, he said his administration plans to upstart a “campaign of economic pressure” on Iran to stop it from advancing its “bloody agenda.”
“We ask all nations to isolate Iran’s regime as long as its aggression continues,” he said.
Trump said in a tweet Tuesday that “despite requests,” he has no plans to meet with Rouhani while the two are in New York.