UN general assembly: Obama repeats call for action against Syria

• Brazilian president attacks US over spying
• World leaders in New York for UN general assembly 
• Obama and Iranian president Hassan Rouhani speak later
• Speculation over meeting between US and Iranian leaders

10.53am ET

Obama finishes. The hall applauds.

Remarkable speech by Obama. He goes out of his way to admit the CIA overthrew the last popularly elected leader of Iran. He borderline ridicules the contradictory bent of theories about the US role in the Middle East. He asserts a global need for American leadership. He points out that things didn't go well for the United States in Iraq and says the US has a "hard-earned humility" from the experience.

He's arguing with the world about what the US is and does, in a speech seeded with concessions of American fault and American weakness. It's a cunning rhetorical gambit. It's a characteristic swing for the fences.

10.48am ET

Obama defends US participation in the intervention in Libya. 

"Does anyone truly believe that the situation in Libya would be better if Ghadafi had been allowed... to brutalize his people?

"It's far more likely," Obama says, that Syria would be "engulfed in civil war and bloodshed."

10.45am ET

The United States has "a hard-earned humility when it comes to our ability to" determine events inside other countries, Obama says. 

There's an idea that America works constantly to expand its "empire," he says, but that idea "isn't born out by America's current policy or by public opinion," he says.

"The danger for the world is not that the United States" is overly engaged, it's that the US "... rightly concerned about difficulties back home.. may disengage, creating a vacuum of leadership that no other nation is ready to fill," Obama says. 

Then Obama says he frankly believes that America is exceptional, because:

"We have shown a willingness to sacrifice blood and treasure to stand up not only for our own narrow interests but in the interests of all," he says. 

10.43am ET

Obama says democracy is for everyone.

"We reject the notion that these principles are western exports incompatible with Islam or the Arab world," he says.

"We will be engaged in the region for the long haul," he says. 

10.42am ET

US president Barack Obama addresses the delegates during the 68th session of the United Nations general asaembly at the United Nations in New York Photograph: Timothy Clary/AFP/Getty Images

10.41am ET

Obama turns to Egypt.

"When peaceful transitions began in Tunisia and Egypt, the entire world was filled with hope," he says. "...We chose to support those who called for change.. in the belief that societies based on democracy and openness... will ultimately be more prosperous and more peaceful."

"Mohamed Morsi was democratically elected but proved unwilling or unable to govern in a way that was fully inclusive," Obama says. The interim government is supported by a large number of Egyptians but has taken non-democratic action by imposing emergency law, restrictions on the press, civil society and opposition parties, Obama says.

Meanwhile, the United States is "simultaneously accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and engineering their removal from power!" he says, sounding incredulous.

"In fact the United States has avoided choosing sides," Obama says.

10.37am ET

Obama turns to a conflict he aptly describes as older than tensions between the US and Iran: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The time is now right for the entire international community to get behind the pursuit of peace," he says.

He says Abbas has expressed a willingness to negotiate and the Netanyahu has released political prisoners and reaffirmed his commitment to a Palestinian state.

"And so the rest of us must be willing to take risks as well," Obama says. He says friends of Israel such as the US must recognize the need for a Palestinian state. Likewise friends of Palestine (he doesn't say "Palestine") must recognize the need for a two-state solution and for Israel's security. 

10.34am ET

"The roadblocks may prove to be too great but I firmly believe a diplomatic path must be tested," Obama says.

Obama says the supreme leader has issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons. He says mutual action to eliminate them must proceed in a way that is "transparent and verifiable."

"It is the Iranian government's choices that have led to the sanctions that are in place," Obama says. 

"I am directing John Kerry to pursue a settlement with the Iranian government in close cooperation" with international partners, he says.

10.31am ET

Now Obama turns to Iran. He makes a remarkable acknowledgment of the US role in taking out Mossadegh,the democratically elected president of Iran, who was deposed in a CIA-led coup in 1953. "This mistrust has deep roots," Obama says.

Iranians complain of America's meddling, Obama says, including "America's role of overthrowing the Iranian government in the Cold War." Americans complain of Iranian taking hostages, threatening US troops and allies.

"I don't believe this difficult history can be overcome overnight. The suspicions run too deep." But resolving the nuclear question could serve as a first step down a long road, he says. 

Updated at 10.38am ET

10.29am ET

Obama says US policy will turn on Two particular issues: Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

10.28am ET

Obama articulates guidelines for what he says will be his Middle East policy going forward. He says the US depends on the region for oil and will directly confront terrorist threats and proliferation threats.

But the US also sees a direct interest in "peace and prosperity" in the region, he says. It's not possible to act unilaterally though.

"Iraq shows us that democracy cannot simply be imposed by force," he says.

10.26am ET

Obama announces new Syria aid

"We will be providing an additional $340m in aid for Syria," he says. No aid can replace a truce, he says, but "it can help people survive."

Then he describes a frustrating contradiction around the US role in the Middle East.

"The US is chastised for meddling... at the same time blamed for failing to do enough to address the region's problems."

"These contradictory attitudes have a practical impact" for the support of American people for US action in the Middle East, Obama says. 

Obama at the UN. Photograph: Andrew Gombert/EPA

Updated at 10.40am ET

10.25am ET

Obama calls for a broader truce in Syria.

"An agreement on chemical weapons should energize a larger diplomatic effort" in Syria, Obama says.

He says the idea that Syria can return to its pre-war power structure is "a fantasy."

"We're no longer in a Cold War. There's no great game to be won," he says. 

10.23am ET

Obama pushes back against the Russian line that opposition groups may have been responsible for the 21 August chemical attack. 

"It's an insult... to suggest that anyone other than this regime carried out this attack," he says.

Then the president turns to his vision for a political settlement:

As I've discussed with President Putin for more than a year... my preference has always been a diplomatic solution... We have reached an agreement to place Syria's chemical weapons under control ... The Syrian government took a first step by giving an accounting of its chemical stockpiles.

Obama says what's needed next is an enforceable resolution with consequences to destroy the weapons.

10.19am ET

Obama begins to outline US policy on Syria.

"As a starting point, the international community must enforce a ban on the brazen use of chemical weapons."

The ban is "older than the United Nations itself," Obama says. He invokes "the searing memory of soldiers suffering in the trenches, Jews... in gas chambers, Iranians slaughtered..." 

10.18am ET

Obama turns to Syria.

"Peaceful protest ... were met with oppression and carnage," he says, and "many retreated to their sectarian identities."

"Our response has not met the scale of the challenge," Obama says. ..."The peace process is stillborn... America and others have worked to support the moderate opposition," he says, but extremist groups have taken over.

Then Obama at the UN accuses the Assad regime of using chemical weapons on Syrians: 

"On August 21, the regime used chemical weapons in an attack that killed 1,000 people," he says. 

10.15am ET

In fact Obama's speech does contain a reply to Rousseff, if just one line:

"We've begun to review the way that we gather intelligence" to balance security concerns of Americans and allies with "privacy concerns that all people share," Obama says.

Then he says the "world is more stable than it was five years ago." 

10.12am ET

"Each year we come together to reconfirm the founding vision of this institution," Obama begins. It does not sound like the entirety of his remarks will be cued to Rousseff's attack on his intelligence services. 

Indeed the American president works his way through a series of filigreed sentences paying tribute to the glory of the institution, which now, he says, faces one of its most difficult challenges. 

10.08am ET

Rousseff is done. Obama is next. 

Updated at 10.09am ET

10.05am ET

Rousseff turns to other topics. But it's fair to say the 68th UNGA has delivered early on its promise of action. 

Rousseff acquitted herself of the loudest, most public condemnation yet by a world leader of spying by the NSA, the GCHQ and associated intelligence services. She said the practice constituted a serious human rights violation, a crime, and an act of disrespect to the sovereignty of targeted countries. She expressed disbelief that friendly countries would spy on one another as intrusively as the NSA has done. 

Rousseff said the UN needs to establish international protections for Internet users from spying. 

Here's what Rousseff is so exercised about: NSA documents reported on in part by Glenn Greenwald on the Brazilian news program Fantasticoshowed that the American intelligence service had records of her internal communications:

A separate document displayed communication patterns between Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and her top advisers, Fantastico said, although no specific written passages were included in the report.

Both documents were part of an NSA case study showing how data could be "intelligently" filtered, Fantastico said.

Read the full piece here. Rousseff snubbed Barack Obama in mid-September by postponing an official visit to Washington in protest at the spying activities.

Updated at 10.08am ET

9.54am ET

Rousseff calls on the UN to "properly regulate the behavior of states regarding these technologies..."

She announces that Brazil will put forth proposals to establish an international framework for Internet use and communications. "We must establish multilateral mechanisms for the world wide web.

She names five guiding principles:

Freedom of speech; multi-lateral governance with transparency; the principle of universality and non-discrimination; cultural diversity without imposing values; and network neutrality. 

9.52am ET

Rousseff is warming to her theme. 

"What we have before us is a serious case of a violation of human rights... and disrespect to the sovereignty of my country. 

We have sought guarantees that the spying "will never happen again," she says. It's impossible to allow "illegal" actions to go on "as if they are ordinary," she says. "They are unacceptable."

She says Brazil is taking steps to protect its communications and to "defend the human rights of all citizens of the world."

9.50am ET

Rousseff launches a diatribe against international "spying activity." She calls it "a global network of international spying."

She says surveillance is a "breach of international law and an affrontment to the principles that should govern relationships among countries, especially friendly countries."

"In Brazil the situation was even more serious, since we as Brazil figure as a target." Rousseff says. She says individuals' and businesses' communications have been "indiscriminately" targeted.

THe issue is "utterly important and serious," she says. 

9.45am ET

Here's the schedule of today's speakers before the assembly. "Statements should be no longer than 15 minutes," warns current assembly president John Ashe, former UN ambassador for Antigua and Barbuda. Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has just begun speaking.

Updated at 9.47am ET

9.29am ET

Welcome to our live blog coverage of the 68th United Nations General Assembly. The session is stirring unusual excitement: it could produce the first face-to-face meeting between a US and an Iranian president since the hostage crisis, open a new way forward on negotiations over Iran's nuclear program; render a map for future international involvement in Syria's civil war, and set the stage for a new round of Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.

Both US president Barack Obama and Iranian president Hassan Rouhani are scheduled to address the group of more than 200 national leaders in New York today (Obama speaks at 10am ET). Both leaders are expected to elaborate on expressions in the last weeks of mutual respect and a desire to interface. Rouhani is not two months in office and is the center of a great deal of optimism. Furthermore, according to former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami writing in the Guardianon Monday, Rouhani has the power to negotiate:

Explicit public support from the supreme leader of the Islamic republic provides Rouhani and his colleagues with the necessary authority for a diplomatic resolution of a number of foreign policy issues with the west, not just the nuclear issue.

The EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, met with Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York Monday. She said Zarif would meet with US secretary of state John Kerry on Thursday, in what would be the first ministerial talks between Tehran and Washington since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

Seasoned observers on all sides, and not just Israel, are counseling caution as a potential new phase of international conversation begins. The leaders of both Iran and Syria have projects they would like more time to complete – time that could be created by ultimately fruitless talk. But the assumption is the talks in New York this week don't have to be fruitless and might yield a breakthrough.

Headlines may also be provided by an early speech by the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. She cancelled a state visit to the US in protest at revelations that the National Security Agency had been spying on her personal communications and those of her aides. She may use the UN platform to tell Obama what she thinks of him.