Rouhani in New York

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his foreign policy team arrived in New York on Sunday for a week of high-stake diplomacy during and on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly.

- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met on Monday with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. The two chair the Iranian and P5+1 delegations respectively in talks on Iranian nuclear program.

- Zarif on Monday also met with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who put a photo of their handshaking on Twitter.

- President Hassan Rouhani will address the UNGA on Tuesday. He is expected to call for UN support of Iran’s nuclear rights and use of diplomacy to resolve the Syrian conflict. Rouhani, however, is also expected to use a moderate tone unheard of in the eight years of Ahmadinejad’s administration, in what is now called the Iranian “charm offensive,” to raise the international status of Iran.

- On Thursday, Zarif and the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will head their delegations during the P5+1 foreign minister meeting. The symbolic gathering is expected to set a positive tone for the upcoming nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six major powers.

- Rouhani could also meet with President Barrack Obama. The U.S. president will open the UNGA meeting on Tuesday. Rouhani will address the UNGA on the same day.

- Rouhani will also chair the meeting of Non-Aligned Movement in New York on Thursday.

Photo from top to bottom:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (Reuters)

President Rouhani and Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazaee making their way to Manhattan (@HassanRouhani / Twitter)

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and British Foreign Secretary William Hague (@WilliamJHague / Twitter)

Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (IRIB)

Photos of Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who will attend the P5+1/Iran foreign ministers meeting on Thursday (AFP)

Iran Ready to Hold Direct Talks with U.S. – Iran Ambassador to UN

'Both sides are getting closer to each other' - Khazaee

Iran would be willing to sit down for direct talks with the United States, the country's ambassador to the United Nations said in an interview broadcast on CNN on Sunday.

"I can confirm it here with you, and also for your distinguished audience, that Iran will come into negotiation and direct talks with the United States provided that we make sure that the U.S. is serious and does not act differently," Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in an interview that aired on Fareed Zakaria GPS.

Khazaee said Iranians felt that at last week's negotiation with the United States and other aligned nations, "both sides are getting closer to each other."

Khazaee also said levels (3.5-percent v. 20-percent) and amount of uranium enrichment are not critical issues.

“How much stockpile Iran can have or how much, or the enrichment at what level should be in Iran - those are, in my view, a small and technical point that should be discussed,” Khazaee said.

File photo: Iran's Ambassador to the U.N. Mohammad Khazaee. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Iranian Ambassador states Iran will never bow to threats

Iranian Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazaee said today that Iran will never bow to unmerited threats from a few western countries.

Regardless of the opposition protests Khazaee states that the mass turnout to the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Republic proves the prevailing state of unity in the country.

“The presence of millions of Iranians in the rallies was a clear manifestation of political power across the international scene," he was quoted as stating.

He also stated that the western officials should not cling to the misguided and wide spread belief that the Iranian government is disliked and is being weakened by the opposition and that instead should open their eyes to see the much larger support in Iran for the states policies.

“The Islamic Republic has now become a powerful and strategic country, where people enjoy a strong sense of unity and solidarity,” said Khazaee. “It is a fact that Western powers must learn to deal with.”

He also stated that millions of Iranians took to the street last Thursday to celebrate the overthrowing of the ruthless US-backed Pahlavi monarchy back in 1979.