Rowhani will present ‘true face of Iran’ at UN

DUBAI: President Hassan Rowhani said on Monday he would use his visit to the United Nations this week to present the “true face of Iran” and to pursue talks and cooperation with the West to end Iran’s nuclear dispute.
A moderate conservative elected in June, Rowhani was speaking shortly before a five-day trip Western powers hope will shed light on a nuclear program they fear could yield nuclear arms. Iran has said it is pursuing peaceful ends, but recent, sometimes rancorous talks have served only to deepen suspicion.
“Unfortunately in recent years the face of Iran, a great and civilized nation, has been presented in another way,” Rowhani said, according to comments published on his official website.
“I and my colleagues will take the opportunity to present the true face of Iran as a cultured and peace-loving country.”
Rowhani did not make clear who he blames for any distortion of Iran’s image. But the comments suggest he is intent on distancing himself from the controversial, outspoken approach to the West adopted by predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The US and its allies have imposed increasing economic sanctions on Iran in recent years, partly a response to what the West regards as Tehran’s failure to open its nuclear program to international inspection. Ahmadinejad had also raised concern with comments on the Holocaust and homosexuality.