A Colombia University professor has praised President Hassan Rouhani’s speeches during his recent visit to New York to attend the 69th session of UN General Assembly.
During his visit to New York, “Rouhani had tried to avoid provocative remarks, and outlined his views to the world in a calm and decisive manner that caused obvious changes in the political climate of the world,” George Saliba told IRNA in an interview published on Saturday. He noted that Rouhani’s remarks drew the attention of the media to “his thoughts and views on global issues.”
Referring to ongoing talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) on a final deal to resolve the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program, he said the Western powers will finally recognize Iran’s nuclear rights.
“Reaching such a deal and recognizing Iran’s nuclear rights is historical obligation, the fulfillment of which is inevitable,” the Lebanese-American professor said.
Iran and the six major powers held their latest round of talks in New York from September 19 to 26 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. They have set a November 24 target date to hammer out a long-term settlement to the nuclear dispute which would end sanctions on Iran. Saliba also criticized world powers for monopolizing the access to peaceful nuclear energy.
These states use the monopoly of atomic technologies as a means to show their might and dominance over other countries, Saliba said.
“This monopolized view was formed when an atomic bomb was dropped (by the US) which killed thousands of people” in Japan in 1945, he said.
Saliba, a professor of Arabic and Islamic Science at the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, has been teaching at Columbia University, New York, since 1979.
