US President Donald Trump took his campaign to isolate Iran to the UN Security Council Wednesday, accusing Tehran of spreading chaos at a meeting that laid bare divisions between Washington and key allies.
As chairman of a session of the top UN body, Trump denounced the "horrible, one-sided" nuclear deal with Iran that he ditched in May, to the dismay of European allies.
A gavel-wielding Trump vowed that re-imposed sanctions will be "in full force" and urged world powers to work with the United States to "ensure the Iranian regime changes its behaviour and never acquires a nuclear bomb." Addressing the council after Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron hit back, declaring that concerns about Iran cannot be reduced to "a policy of sanctions and containment" that was in place for years before the landmark deal.
"We need to build together a long-term strategy to manage the crisis that cannot be reduced to a policy of sanctions and containment of Iran," said Macron.
The United States has moved to reimpose sanctions that had been lifted under the 2015 deal to curb Iran's nuclear program and has vowed to punish foreign firms that do business with Iran.
On North Korea, Trump called for sanctions to be strictly enforced against Pyongyang -- a message directed at Russia and China which are pushing for an easing of punitive measures to reward North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Without naming countries, the US president noted that "some nations are already violating UN sanctions" including illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil and said compliance was "very, very important."
"The regime used new funds from the deal to support terrorism, build nuclear capable missiles and foment chaos." Trump assailed Russia and Iran for backing President Bashar al-Assad in his brutal war in Syria, saying: "The Syrian regime's butchery is enabled by Russia and Iran."
On Monday, the five remaining parties to the agreement -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- defiantly announced that they would set up a special payment system to continue trade and business ties with Iran. Heading into the council meeting, Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot
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