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Pressure mounts on Iran's president to skip the UN General Assembly

The Iranian president’s planned trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly is sparking divisions among his political backers and opponents.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani exits the podium after addressing the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 20, 2017. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz - RC1ED8E50640

Whether Iran's President Hassan Rouhani should travel to New York for this year's UN General Assembly is fueling a war of words between his critics and supporters.

Hard-line daily Kayhan initially sparked the debate. In a Sept. 10 editorial, the paper advised Rouhani to cancel his trip to New York in order to use it as a chance to humiliate his US counterpart, Donald Trump. "Since the United States has spared no opportunity for hostility against Iran, President Rouhani needs to refrain from attending the General Assembly as an official protest over Trump's chairmanship [of an agenda item] at the Security Council," said the editorial.

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