Biden promises 'relentless diplomacy' to skeptical allies as Iran hits out at US
UNITED NATIONS: President Joe Biden summoned the world's nations to forcefully address the festering global issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and human rights abuses in his first address before the UN General Assembly.
He decried military conflict and insisted the US is not seeking "a new Cold War" with China.
But while stressing to fellow world leaders the urgency of working together, Biden avoided addressing criticism from allies about the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and a diplomatic tempest with France.
Instead, Biden used his address Tuesday before the annual gathering of world leaders to make his case that the United States remains a reliable international partner following four years of President Donald Trump's "America first" foreign policy.
"We're opening a new era of relentless diplomacy, of using the power of our development aid to invest in new ways of lifting people up around the world," Biden said.
The president offered an impassioned plea for cooperation, to friends and adversaries, arguing that overcoming a daunting list of crises "will hinge on our ability to recognise our common humanity."
Biden said the US, under his watch, had reached a turning point with the end of military operations in Afghanistan last month, closing out America's longest war.
That set the table, he said, for his administration to shift its attention to intensive diplomacy at a moment with no shortage of crises facing the globe.
"Today, many of our greatest concerns cannot be solved or even addressed by the force of arms," he said.
"Bombs and bullets cannot defend against COVID-19 or its future variants."
Biden offered a robust endorsement of the UN's relevance and ambition at a difficult time in history, and sought to reassure wary allies of US cooperation.
He pledged to double US financial aid to poorer countries to help them switch to cleaner energy and cope with the "merciless" effects of climate change.
That would mean increasing assistance to about USD 11.4 billion a year.
This after five months ago doubling the amount to USD 5.7 billion a year.
As part of the fight against climate change, rich nations for many years have promised to spend USD100 billion a year in climate help, but a new study shows that they're USD20 billion a year short.
Biden said his new commitment would help rich nations reach their goal.
In climate negotiations there's a dramatic rich-poor nation gap.
Developing nations and others are reluctant to curb emissions further of heat-trapping gases without help from developed nations, which, in the words of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, are the guys that created the problem.
Biden seemed to look past the mounting skepticism he's faced from world leaders in the early going of his presidency, including criticism that Biden has given too little weight to allies' concerns on issues that have ramifications for America's friends on the world stage.
Eight months into his presidency, Biden has been out of sync with allies on the ending to the US war in Afghanistan.
He has faced differences over how to go about sharing coronavirus vaccines with the developing world and over pandemic travel restrictions.
And there are questions about the best way to respond to military and economic moves by China.
His recent blow-up with France was born out of a three-way agreement between the US, Britain and Australia that undercut a more than USD60 billion French submarine deal in favour of a plan to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.
The move is expected to give Australia improved capabilities to patrol the Pacific amid growing concern about the Chinese military's increasingly aggressive tactics.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Monday there was a "crisis of trust" with the US as a result of the episode.
Biden wasn't so concerned.
Asked by a reporter as he arrived at the UN on Tuesday how he planned to repair relations with the French, Biden responded with two words: "They're great."
In an interview before meeting with Biden on Monday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told The Associated Press that he was concerned about the "completely dysfunctional" US-China relationship and the possibility it could lead to a new Cold War.
The secretary-general did not back off his concerns about the US-China tensions as he addressed leaders at the opening of Tuesday's gathering.
"It will be impossible to address dramatic economic and development challenges while the world's two largest economies are at odds with each other," he said.
Biden sought to play down concerns about China tensions escalating into something more, saying: "We are not seeking a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocs."
Notably, Biden didn't utter the word "China" in his 34-minute address.
More broadly, he put a heavy emphasis on the need for world leaders to work together on the COVID-19 pandemic, to meet past obligations to address climate change, to head off emerging technology issues and to firm up trade rules.
"We will choose to build a better future. We, you and I, we have the will and capacity to make it better. Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot afford to waste any more time," he said.
"We can do this."
Biden limited his time at the United Nations due to coronavirus concerns.
He met with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in New York following his speech, before heading back to the White House for a busy week of diplomacy in virtual and Washington settings.
Iran's new president slammed US sanctions imposed on his nation as a mechanism of war, using his first UN address since his swearing-in to forcefully call out Washington's policies in the region and the growing political schism within America.
President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday delivered a far more critical and blunt take on American foreign policy than his moderate predecessor, Hassan Rouhani, had done in previous speeches to the UN General Assembly.
Raisi, who was sworn in last month after an election, is a conservative cleric and former judiciary chief seen as close to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
His speech espoused Iran's Islamic political identity and where the Shiite-led nation sees its place in the world, despite crushing US sanctions that have hurt its economy and ordinary Iranians.
"Sanctions are the US' new way of war with the nations of the world," Raisi said, adding that such economic punishment during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic amounts to "crimes against humanity."
US sanctions, while allowing for humanitarian aid, have made international purchases of medicine and equipment much more difficult.
Iran has endured multiple waves of the coronavirus, with nearly 1,18,000 deaths recorded, the highest in the region.
In taking aim at the United States, Raisi also referenced the shocking Jan.6th insurrection on Capitol Hill by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, and the horrific scenes at Kabul airport last month as desperate Afghans plunged to their deaths after clinging to a US aircraft evacuating people.
"From the Capitol to Kabul, one clear message was sent to the world: the US' hegemonic system has no credibility, whether inside or outside the country," Raisi said.
The Iranian president said "the project of imposing Westernized identity" had failed, and added erroneously that "today, the US does not get to exit Iraq and Afghanistan but is expelled."
The US military withdrew from Afghanistan amid a hasty and chaotic airlift of more than 1,00,000 Afghans and foreigners, and has largely withdrawn from Iraq.
Iran shares long borders with Afghanistan to its east and Iraq to its west, where Shiite militias are powerful.
The perseverance of nations, he said, is stronger than the power of superpowers.
In a dig at the political slogans used by Trump and his successor President Joe Biden, Raisi said: "Today, the world doesn't care about "America First" or "America is Back."
Speaking remotely via video from Tehran, Raisi wore a black turban on his head that identifies him in the Shiite tradition as a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
He praised Iran's Islamic Revolution of 1979 as the fulfilment of "religious democracy" and linked the growth of "indigenous terrorism in the West" to a decline in spirituality.
Despite the criticism aimed at Washington, Raisi appeared not to rule out a return to the negotiating table for the nuclear accord, saying Iran considers talks useful if their ultimate outcome is the lifting of all sanctions.
Still, he stated: "We don't trust the promises made by the US government."
Tensions peaked last year between the US and Iran after the Trump administration's assassination of powerful field commander, Qassim Soleimani, and a top Iraqi Shiite militia leader by a US drone strike in Iraq.
Raisi mentioned the men in his speech, saying they helped fight Sunni extremists of the Islamic State Group from "becoming neighbours of Europe".
Biden has made clear he wants to salvage the nuclear deal with Iran that Trump withdrew the US from, but indirect talks between Washington and Tehran in Vienna have stalled as tensions in the Persian Gulf persist.
The Biden administration and allies like Israel and Gulf Arab states also want to see Iran's missile development and support for regional militias addressed.
"The United States remains committed to preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon," Biden said in his own UN speech, delivered in person earlier Tuesday.
When asked about Iran, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One that "the door remains open to diplomacy" and that US negotiators believe the best path forward is to pursue talks, but she had no update on when the parties might meet again.
Raisi insisted that atomic weapons have no place in Iran's defense doctrine and deterrence policy.