President Hassan Rouhani on Monday departed Tehran for
New York to attend the UN General Assembly on a mission to win
Iran support against "cruel" pressure from arch-foe the United States.
Speaking to reporters before boarding his flight, Rouhani said his delegation was heading to the UN gathering despite reluctance from President Donald Trump's administration to issue them visas.
Tehran and
Washington have been at loggerheads since May last year when Trump abandoned a 2015
nuclear deal and began reimposing
sanctions on Iran in a stated campaign of "maximum pressure".