Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been angered by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s landmark speech at the UN General Assembly, saying the speech was “cynical”.

In a statement issued immediately after the speech on Tuesday, Netanyahu said the address was filled with “hypocrisy”.

However, the Israeli delegation was not in the hall during the speech.

“It’s a good thing the Israeli delegation wasn’t in the hall,” Netanyahu said, adding “I will not allow the Israeli delegation to be part of this cynical public relations…”

Netanyahu also said Iran wants to use the talks to buy time for its alleged nuclear weapons program.

“This is precisely the Iranian plan - to talk and buy time in order to develop the capability of achieving a nuclear weapon,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu said he would discuss the matter with Obama at a White House meeting next week.

In his address to the UN, Rouhani said the Islamic Republic of Iran poses no threat to the world and Tehran is ready for talks on its nuclear energy program with complete transparency.

"Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in Iran's security and defense doctrine, and contradict our fundamental religious and ethical convictions," he said.

The Iranian president urged his US counterpart Barack Obama to reject "the short-sighted interest of warmongering pressure groups” if he wants "to manage differences" with Tehran.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies falsely claim that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with the US and the European Union using the unfounded allegation as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions on Iran.

Tehran strongly rejects the claim, maintaining that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Israel is widely believed to be the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, with estimated 200-400 nuclear warheads.

The Israeli regime rejects all regulatory international nuclear agreements, particularly the NPT, and refuses to allow its nuclear facilities to come under international regulatory inspections.

HK