He also called the Iran nuclear deal, signed in 2015 as one of the signature foreign policy achievements by President Barack Obama, "horrible" and "one-sided" - a common way Mr Trump describes many multilateral and bilateral agreements of which the US was or is part.

Mr Trump said the nuclear deal was giving the regime a lifeline - they were "in big big trouble, they needed cash. We gave it to them."

Naysan Rafati, an Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group, told The Independent the theme of the administration this entire time at the UN General Assembly was consistent with his remarks today - the the "deal is flawed".

However, he noted it was "striking to see that [Mr Trump's] view remains a minority view in the Security Council," as several countries including Russia, the UK, and France - parties to the Iran nuclear deal - said the opposite.

Other countries see the deal as "a stepping stone...a starting point for continued engagement with Tehran" as does Mr Rouhani, Mr Rafati said.