Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's speech to the United Nations General Assembly was bitter and direct.
Mr Rouhani slammed US President Donald Trump's criticism of his country, saying it was "ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric" and unfit to be heard at the UN.
Mr Trump had called Iran a corrupt dictatorship that spread violence and he threathened to tear up the 2015 nuclear deal.
In remarks clearly directed at the US President's eight-month-old administration, Mr Rouhani expressed concern that what he called "rogue newcomers" at the UN are threatening global peace.
"Mr Trump was extremely offensive to the people of Iran. And before anything, we are waiting for Mr. Trump to issue an apology to the people of Iran."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also spoke at the Assembly, calling on the UN to bring an end to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories "within a set timeframe."
Speaking through a translator, Mr Abbas complained of the continued Israeli settlement-building and said the possibility of a two-state peace agreement was being gravely undermined.
"In such a situation it is our right to search for alternatives that preserve our rights and protect our land and our people from an entrenching system of apartheid that came to an end in South Africa long time ago but it still exists in Palestine. Is this acceptable? Can the world accept an apartheid regime in the 21st century?"
British Prime Minister Theresa May used her time to address the importance of global cooperation as the only way to confront shared international challenges.
"And as the global system struggles to adapt, we are confronted by states deliberately flouting, for their own gain, the rules and standards that have secured our collective prosperity and security. The unforgivable use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime against its own people and perhaps foremost in our minds today, the outrageous proliferation of nuclear weapons by North Korea and a threat to use them."
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's focus was, unsurprisingly, on North Korea.
Mr Abe said dialogue with the North is futile and that strict implementation of sanctions is the only way to curb that country's nuclear ambitions.
"The gravity of this threat is unprecedented. It is indisputably a matter of urgency. North Korea is attempting to dismiss with a smirk the efforts towards disarmament we have assiduously undertaken over the years."
Meanwhile Donald Trump had been meeting African leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, noting his interest in boosting US investment in Africa to help create jobs and opportunity on both sides of the Atlantic.
"Africa has tremendous business potential. I have so many friends going to your countries, trying to get rich. I congratulate you. They're spending a lot of money."
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