Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi called for a 'fair tribunal' for those responsible for the death of General Qasem Soleimani, during his first in-person address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

"The leader and the hero of this war against terror and the destroyer of Daesh was nobody other than General Qasem Soleimani. The person who was martyred to liberate the countries of the region and the former US President signed this murderous act with his own name," he said.

"We will pursue justice and the trial of the agent and perpetrator of those who martyred General Soleimani through a fair tribunal until a definitive result," Raisi continued, while holding up a picture of the military commander.

Soleimani was killed after Donald Trump authorised a drone strike on Baghdad airport in January 2020. Trump said at the time that the general had been "directly and indirectly responsible for the deaths of millions of people".

Meanwhile, Raisi appeared to take aim at the international outrage following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in Tehran.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the double standards of some governments in relation to human rights the most important cause of violating those rights," he said. "As a result of which are different takes on an internal incident which is under investigation in Iran and then deadly silence on the killings of tens of innocent women within a short period in one of the Western countries."

Amini fell into a coma and died on Friday, following her arrest by the 'morality police' for allegedly breaking strict hijab rules. Police say she had a heart attack, and that her death was an 'unfortunate accident', while opponents claim she was beaten.

Additionally, Raisi addressed the ongoing attempts to revive the Iran nuclear deal; the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which lifted sanctions in exchange for Tehran limiting its nuclear programme.

"I, on behalf of the esteemed Iranian nation, explicitly announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran does not want to build nuclear weapons and these weapons do not belong in our defence doctrine," he claimed, before accusing the US of dragging its feet. "What we have in front of us is the experience of the US leaving JCPOA and its current government procrastination in re-joining the deal."

The original nuclear deal collapsed in 2018 after Donald Trump’s administration withdrew support.

The general debate featuring world leaders at the 77th UN General Assembly continues until September 26.