World must embrace era of engagement: Obama

American President Barack Obama Wednesday said the world "must embrace a new era of engagement" as he pledged to work for a world without nuclear weapons and to relaunch Middle East peace talks, in his first speech to the annual United Nations General Assembly.

"It is my deeply held belief that in the year 2009 more than at any point in human history, the interests of nations and peoples are shared," the U.S. leader said after receiving warm applause as he stepped up to the podium in the imposing United Nations building.

"The religious convictions we hold in our hearts can forge new bonds among people or they can tear us apart," Obama said.

"Dangerous slopes"

Obama called on leaders to hold North Korea and Iran to account for their nuclear programs, warning they threatened to take the world down a "dangerous slope."

He renewed his pledge to work toward a world without nuclear weapons and said all nations would be less secure if some avoided international inspections.

"In their actions to date, the governments of North Korea and Iran threaten to take us down this dangerous slope," Obama said at U.N. headquarters in New York.

Obama said he supported diplomacy with North Korea and Iran "that opens a path to greater prosperity and a more secure peace for both nations if they live up to their obligations."

"But if the governments of Iran and North Korea choose to ignore international standards, if they put the pursuit of nuclear weapons ahead of regional stability and the security and opportunity of their own people, if they are oblivious to the dangers of escalating nuclear arms races in both East Asia and the Middle East -- then they must be held accountable," he said.

"The world must stand together to demonstrate that international law is not an empty promise, and that treaties will be enforced. We must insist that the future not belong to fear," he said.

But if the governments of Iran and North Korea choose to ignore international standards, if they put the pursuit of nuclear weapons ahead of regional stability and the security and opportunity of their own people, if they are oblivious to the dangers of escalating nuclear arms races in both East Asia and the Middle East then they must be held accountable

Obama

Middle East talks

The president went on to say it was time to relaunch talks to secure peace in the Middle East and stressed the U.S. does not view continued Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as legitimate.

"We continue to emphasize that America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements (in the West Bank)," he said.

The U.S. leader made the remarks a day after holding inconclusive talks in New York with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

The Obama administration has demanded a complete freeze to Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, land the Palestinians want to turn into a future state. But Israel has so far balked.

Obama told the Israeli and Palestinian leaders Tuesday to stop stalling and open talks on a comprehensive deal to end an "endless cycle" of conflict and suffering.

Despite hard lobbying before this week's U.N. meeting, U.S. diplomats were unable to broker a breakthrough between Israel and the Palestinians, prolonging a standoff that has bedeviled generations of U.S. leaders.

Abbas and Netanyahu were also expected to address the assembly.

New faces

More than 120 world leaders gathered at the U.N. on the heels of a climate change summit to tackle other crucial issues on the international agenda from terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons to growing poverty resulting from the global financial crisis.

Besides Obama, a host of new faces will also step to the podium at this last General Assembly ministerial session in the U.N.'s landmark headquarters before it closes for renovation later this fall -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, China's President Hu Jintao and Japan's newly elected Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe are among the leaders also due to address the gathering -- a chorus of skeptics who will likely seek to undercut Obama's star turn.