Laughter at Trump's speech a sign of US isolation: Iran guards chief

GENEVA: Laughter during US President Donald Trump’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) was a sign of the United States’ isolation, the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday, Fars News reported.

Some delegates at the General Assembly on Tuesday laughed and muttered when Trump, in a speech, praised the “extraordinary” achievements of his administration.

“You saw and heard their laughter,” IRGC Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said, according to Fars. “The message of this ridicule was the crumbling of your facade and the increased isolation of America, and this was a big political disgrace.

“You can be sure,” Jafari said, “that the people of Iran and the region are laughing at your completely false and ridiculous claims, but you can’t hear their laughter from far away.”

Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a Twitter post on Wednesday that the US had “abused” the UN Security Council and is “further isolated”.

Once again, the U.S. abused the UNSC only to find itself further isolated in its violation of #JCPOA and SC resolution 2231. When will it learn its lesson?

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) September 26, 2018

“Once again, the US abused the UNSC only to find itself further isolated in its violation of #JCPOA and SC resolution 2231. When will it learn its lesson?” Zarif tweeted.

He was referring to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that Trump pulled out of in May and the UNSC resolution that endorsed the deal.

Trump told a UNSC meeting on Wednesday that Washington was pursuing additional sanctions against Tehran “to counter the entire range of Iran’s malign behaviour.”

The US accuses Iran of supporting destabilizing proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.

Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani traded taunts at the assembly session, with Trump threatening more sanctions against Tehran and Rouhani suggesting the US president suffered from a “weakness of intellect”.

“America is the symbol of oppression in the world,” Revolutionary Guards commander Jafari said. “And the oppressed and those in pursuit of freedom are uniting against them.”