Iran leader: US should focus on terror, not nukes

Iranian President Hasan Rouhani urged the United States on Wednesday to move beyond ‘insignificant’ fears that his country seeks nuclear arms and challenged it to join his country in battling what he described as the global threat of Islamic extremism. Rouhani also made clear he was not prepared to interfere in the case of Jason Rezarian, an American-Iranian journalist detained on unspecified charges in Iran, during a speech and question-and-answer session hosted by the New America think tank. But most of his comments focused on the menace posed by the Islamic State terror group and attempts by his country and the US to seal a deal to meet White House demands that Iran agree to significant long-term curbs on its nuclear program that could be used to make weapons in exchange for an end to crippling sanctions. The Iranian president is addressing the UN General Assembly on Thursday, and his comments Wednesday touched on some of the issues he is likely to highlight. The nuclear talks appear stuck two months before their extended Nov. 24 deadline. While the US is formally joined by five other powers at the negotiating table with Iran, it is clear that the Americans are the lead negotiators, and Rouhani directed most of his comments at Washington. He urged the US government to ‘let go of pressure politics toward Iran,’ according to AP.