President Barack Obama on Monday hailed the nuclear deal with Iran as a triumph of diplomacy that had potentially averted war, but also called on Tehran to overhaul its foreign policy outlook and seek peace rather than foment violence.
The president also called for a "managed transition away from [President Bashar] Assad and to a new leader" in Syria, and vowed to defeat terrorism and extremism, in a speech that highlighted his belief in international cooperation as the only means to defeat conflict and create a better, safer world.
Strikingly, the president did not mention Israel or the Palestinians in his lengthy address - a marked contrast to previous years , when Obama has repeatedly used the UNGA forum to push for a two-state solution.
Noting that the United States "cannot solve the world's problems alone," Obama cited the ongoing instability in Iraq as proof that "hundreds of thousands of troops" and vast sums of money could not produce long-term calm.