UNGA 2023: Ebrahim Raisi demands end to US sanctions against Iran

Iranian leader said Tehran sought to interact with the world 'under the principle of justice'

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi gestures as he finishes addressing the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. EPA

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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday demanded an end to US sanctions against Tehran, after a halt in talks on restoring a nuclear deal.

“These sanctions have not yielded the desired results,” Mr Raisi told the UN General Assembly in a long speech on the opening day of the UN's top forum.

"It is time now for the United States to bring a cessation to its wrong path and choose the right side."

He said the US should prove its “good will and determination” to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Washington abandoned in 2018.

“By exiting the JCPOA, the United States violated the agreement … America should demonstrate its good will and determination,” Mr Raisi said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between Tehran and world powers.

He said Tehran sought to interact with the world “under the principle of justice” and that Iran wanted a more united Middle East.

“The Islamic Republic extends a warm welcome to any hand that is extended in friendship, firmly believing that an independent and robust neighbourhood represents an opportunity for the entire region,” he said.

Mr Raisi also praised Qassem Suleimani, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who the US killed in a drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020. He called the general's death a “terrorist act".