Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in New York on Sept. 20 for his fourth — and perhaps last — address to the UN General Assembly as president of Iran. At home, expectations are high about his speech, conduct, improvement of economic ties and management of tensions with Arab states.

In an editorial published Sept. 20, Javan — a media outlet close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) — wrote that as opposed to the three previous years, domestic media has this year not paid much attention to Rouhani’s visit to New York, concluding that the trip has become trivial as Iranians have lost hope for improving relations with the United States.

In the opposite camp, Sadegh Zibakalam — an outspoken professor at Tehran University known for his critical views on Iran’s regional policies — published an open letter on his website Sept. 21 addressed to Rouhani.

In the letter, Zibakalam acknowledges the complex position Rouhani finds himself in and asks the president not to buy into the harsh tone of others when they “talk of intimidation and clash of civilizations” — an apparent reference to both domestic and regional critics of the Iranian government.