Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani plans to participate in the 68th session of the UN General Assembly due to open on September 17, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, the Iranian media reported.

Zarif said that the Iranian president will travel to the U.S. city of New York to attend the event in September.

Rouhani won the presidential elections in Iran on June 14, securing over 50 percent of total votes in the country. On August 4, he went through the swearing-in ceremony, and was officially pronounced the new president of Iran.

Last year, Iran's former president Mahmoud Ahamdinejad took part at the 67th session of the General Assembly.

Elaborating on the agenda of Iranian President's visit, Zarif said that Rouhani will have three speeches at the UN.

He also noted that Rouhani will first address the UN General Assembly followed by his speech at the nuclear disarmament summit as the president of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)'s Secretariat and then an address to the NAM foreign ministers.

In August, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited Iranian President Rouhani to participate in the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in September.

The Iranian president's visit to the U.S. is of high importance since Tehran and Washington are at loggerheads over different issues, including Iran's peaceful nuclear program, regional developments, especially in Syria, etc.

Political observers believe that Rouhani who is called 'a man of moderation' can break the ice of relations between Iran and the U.S, while protecting Iran's rights and position at regional and international levels.

The United States and Iran broke diplomatic relations in April 1980, after Iranian students seized the United States' espionage center at its embassy in Tehran. The two countries have had tense relations ever since, but have shown willingness to attend talks to help resolve regional issues, including security in Iraq. Yet, the two countries have avoided talks on bilateral issues for the last thirty years.

Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.