Iran's 'corrupt dictatorship' is plundering its people: Trump at UN

US President Donald Trump criticized Iran on Tuesday as a "corrupt dictatorship" that is plundering the Iranian people to pay for aggression abroad, using his speech to the United Nations General Assembly to lay down a tough message for Tehran.

"Iran's leaders sow chaos, death and destruction," Trump told the annual gathering. "They do not respect their neighbours or borders or the sovereign rights of nations."

Trump compared US relations with Iran to what he called improved ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, praising him for halting nuclear and missile tests and returning some US remains from the 1950s Korean War. Trump had called Kim a "rocket man" bent on nuclear destruction in his UN speech last year.

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Trump praised North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un for his courage in taking some steps to disarm, but said much work needed to be done and sanctions must remain in place on North Korea until it denuclearizes.

"The missiles and rockets are no longer flying in every direction, nuclear testing has stopped, some military facilities are already being dismantled," Trump said in his speech to the annual United Nations General Assembly.

"I would like to thank Chairman Kim for his courage and for the steps he has taken, though much work remains to be done," Trump said. "The sanctions will stay in place until denuclearization occurs."

Trump's remarks on North Korea were dramatically different to those in his speech last year at the UN assembly, when he threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea and mocked the North Korean leader as "Rocket Man" on a "suicide mission."

Trump used his speech to call for international trade reforms and insist that his main objective as president is to protect American sovereignty. He called on OPEC to stop raising oil prices and criticized China's trade practices.

And Trump prompted some murmuring from the crowd of world leaders and diplomats when he declared that he had accomplished more as president than almost any other administration in history.

"I didn’t expect that reaction, but that's okay," he said.

Trump accused members of the OPEC oil cartel of "ripping off" the world on as he called for a lowering of fuel prices.

"The United States stands ready to export our abundant affordable supply of oil, clean coal, and natural gas," Trump told the United Nations General Assembly.

"OPEC and OPEC nations are, as usual, ripping off the rest of the world, and I don't like it. Nobody should like it."

Trump accused the International Criminal Court of lacking any legitimacy, saying it violated "all principles of justice."

"As far as America is concerned, the ICC has no jurisdiction, no legitimacy, and no authority," Trump said of the world court.

Calling India a free society of over a billion people, Trump said the country is lifting people out of poverty into the middle class.

(With agency inputs)