Iran's President Hassan Rouhani left Tehran for New York on Sunday morning to attend the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) annual meeting.

Iran Press/ Iran: A number of high ranking officials including foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are accompanying the president in his visit to New York. 

The United Nations General Assembly which is one of the six bodies of the organization and represents all 193 member countries, holds its annual meeting every September.

Attendance of many heads of state, premiers, and foreign ministers of countries makes the UNGA annual meetings an important venue for the world leaders to address the most important national, regional, and international issues in their speeches, IRNA reported.

This year, the UN General Assembly annual session started on 18 September and runs up to 25 September. 

The gathering also gives an opportunity to world statesmen to hold bilateral and multilateral meetings on the sidelines of the event. 

President Rouhani, since taking office in 2013, has regularly attended UN General Assembly annual meetings, seizing the opportunity to expound on Iran's stances regarding regional and international issues.

US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal on May 8, 2018, and his decision to reinstate sanctions on Iran, have made this year's UN General Assembly meeting more important from Iran's point of view.

In addition to addressing the UNGA session, President Rouhani is to hold separate meetings with journalists and American elites to elaborate on Iran's policies. 

The Iranian president will also give a speech in a peace summit held on the sidelines of the international event in commemoration of anti-apartheid leader of South Africa, late Nelson Mandela.

The 73rd UN General Assembly starts on September 18 up to September 25.

The United Nations General Assembly annual meetings, which are held regularly in New York in September, are the biggest political gathering in the world in which dozens of world leaders take part and address the meetings on the most critical national and international issues.

Since taking office in Aug 2013, President Rouhani has attended regularly the previous meetings of the UN General Assembly.

President Rouhani returns home on September 26 (Wednesday) at the end of his 4-day stay in New York.

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