Iran Leader Blames West for Islamic State's Rise | WPN World People News

Iran's president is placing heavy blame on Western countries for the rise of extremism in the Middle East, citing colonialism and what he called "strategic blunders."

Hassan Rouhani told the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday that "moderate politicians and elites" in the region must provide the leadership to counter violence and terrorism.

"The right solution to this quandary comes from within the region, and from a regionally provided solution with international support," Rouhani said, "and not from the outside the region."

Iranian and Western officials are hoping to make progress on stalled nuclear talks. In a rare move, Iran's top diplomat met with U.S. and European Union foreign policy chiefs in New York late Thursday.

The talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton are expected to continue Friday.

A senior U.S. official told VOA the talks were expected "to take stock of the work that has been done this week and discuss the path forward."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met separately with Rouhani late Thursday. Afterwards, Steinmeier said a solution to the nuclear issue "has never been closer in the past 10 years," though he warned that the remaining work to be done "is probably the most difficult."

President Rouhani vowed Thursday that Iran would continue its nuclear program, but said Tehran is determined to negotiate "in earnest and good faith, based on mutual respect and confidence."

Iran and six world powers (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) have been holding talks about what concessions Tehran must make on its nuclear program in exchange for a continued reduction in sanctions.

Iran has said it is committed to reaching a nuclear deal. But analysts say the chances for a breakthrough are slim ahead of the November 24 deadline that was set after the two sides failed to reach a deal by an earlier July target date.

The two sides reached an interim deal last year to reduce U.S. sanctions in exchange for Iran freezing its uranium enrichment program.

Iran is pushing to preserve its ability to enrich uranium, which it says is to help generate electricity. The U.S. and many of its allies fear Iran is trying to achieve the capability of producing a nuclear bomb.

Source: Voice of America