UNITED NATIONS • Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggested on Monday in his United Nations speech that the nuclear agreement with major powers including the United States had helped create the basis for a broader engagement, in what appeared to be a difference stance - in tone, at least - with his own leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Addressing the UN General Assembly meeting, Mr Rouhani spent considerable time extolling the diplomatic success of the agreement. It will lift years of painful economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for verifiable guarantees that its nuclear activities remain peaceful.

Mr Rouhani, who had made the nuclear deal a major goal since he was elected in 2013, even commended the US - along with the other participants - for their role in helping achieve it.

"From our point of view, the agreed-upon deal is not the final objective but a development which can and should be the basis of further achievements to come," Mr Rouhani said, according to the official English-language translation of his speech.

NEW YORK TIMES