An ally of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, Iran has repeatedly argued that fighting IS jihadists must be the first priority in addressing the crisis from the four-year war.

Mr Rouhani’s view puts Iran at odds with key nations which adopted a road map in Geneva in June 2012 which calls for the formation of a transitional government in Syria with full executive powers “on the basis of mutual consent”.

Months ago Iran produced a proposal to end the Syrian conflict, which has claimed more than 250,000 lives, and Rouhani said it is still under discussion with some unnamed countries. Leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was “disappointing that David Cameron isn’t showing leadership” on the Syrian conflict.

Abdullah Abdullah, for his part, described the current situation in Afghanistan and appreciated the Islamic Republic of Iran for its support of their people and government particularly during the reconstruction period. “He is one of the great recruiting sergeants for ISIL [Islamic State]”, Cameron told reporters on the flight to New York, according to the Press Association.

For his part, Rouhani said Iran cherishes its friendly ties with China and, under the new circumstances, is willing to work with China to maintain close high-level exchanges and deepen long-term strategic cooperation in such fields as economy, trade and energy, so as to continuously advance bilateral ties. “We’ve had some conversations but … we’ll wait and see where we are”. Mr Cameron said Russian Federation and other powers had to be persuaded that it was “in everyone’s interests” to co-operate in the fight against Isis.

The pilgrims were taking part in a “grand and global spiritual gathering of the haj” but “fell victim to the incompetence and mismanagement of those in charge”, said Mr Rouhani. Iran’s president also emphasized that to be effective at winning the war on terror, the Damascus government can not be compromised.

“Amid all these incidents, the JCPOA (Iran’s nuclear agreement with the P5+1) was a hope”, said the president.

Cameron plans to use his meetings with world leaders in New York to highlight the £1.1 billion ($1.7 billion) Britain has spent on assistance to displaced Syrians in the Middle East and to urge others to follow his lead.

The ISIL, a radical Sunni group, has ceased vast areas in Syria and Iraq, spreading radical ideology and committing numerous human rights atrocities, including beheading of religious minorities representatives and foreign hostages posted online. “So they are edging towards the possibility of supporting Russian moves on the ground, in the air and doing their own military campaign of bombing at the same time“.