Publish Date: 6 August 2021 - 18:27

TEHRAN, Aug. 06 (MNA) – In a meeting with the President of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Duarte Pacheco, Iran's Parliament Spokesperson Ghalibaf called for the international body to stand against US unilateralist behaviors.

"Public diplomacy in today's world has become stronger thanks to the presence of the media and social media," Ghalibaf said, "Unilateral powers could manage and control it if they wanted to, of course, they also dominate the media, but NGOs and non-governmental organizations have also been able to gain good power in this regard."

Noting that the UN and other international bodies were formed to be in charge of securing the security and economy of world countries, the Iranian official added, "However, richer and more powerful governments could dominate such international organizations and this is where unilateralism was formed because every decision dominant powers make must be implemented."

"They have the power to influence international regimes, organizations, and NGOs, especially organizations such as the FATF, FIFA, and UNESCO," he said urging the IPU to stand against US unilateralist behaviors.

Ghalibaf added, "The IPU can act positively in bringing peace and security to West Asia and we should not allow foreign governments to infiltrate into the region."

For his part, Pacheco noted that that the IPU is an organization that supports multilateralism to solve the world's problems, and said, "We support dialogue and we believe that whatever happens in one part of the world will impact other parts."

Condemning the sanctions against Iran, he said: "We believe that these sanctions should be lifted as soon as possible because it is the people who suffer the most as a result of the sanctions.

HJ/5275093