Speaking in a meeting with visiting Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Lubomir Zaoralek in the Iranian capital, Tehran on Monday, President Hassan Rouhani condemned the meddling of some countries in the affairs of other states, warning that the instrumental use of violence and terrorism can bring about consequences on a regional and global scale; “the wealthy and powerful countries must not impose their own opinions on other countries and interfere in their internal affairs in their pursuit of gaining more influence in the region or any other such pretexts,” he said.
The Iranian president deemed racial, religious and ethnic discrimination as well as despair at making a good life among the reasons that provoke the youth to join terrorist groups, saying “when the terrorist groups fail to attract people to join their ranks through logic and reason they start to impose themselves by creating an atmosphere of fear and terror.”
Rouhani noted Iran’s strong stance against terrorism and its hospitality toward millions of asylum seekers from regional countries, adding “the Islamic Republic in spite of its economic bottlenecks has welcomed millions of refugees and allocated some 400,000 seats in schools for the education of Afghan immigrants.”
The president called on all countries to accept the fact that terrorism is not a suitable tool for advancing their goals, saying “all countries must profess the equality in human values and feel as much concerned over the death of thousands of Syrian and Iraqi civilians as they do over the death of American or other Western citizens.”
“If all countries could enjoy equal rights, the interference in internal affairs would have been condemned,” he said.
The Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, for his part, expressed his country’s support for the recent nuclear agreement between Iran and the 5+1, saying “the nuclear deal has created more space for Iran to play a more effective role in the region and the world. The Czech Republic believes that without the influence of Iran one cannot reach a political solution to the issues of terrorism and the refugee crisis.”
Zaoralek further stressed his country’s readiness to expand cooperation with Iran in bilateral and regional issues, saying “all countries must first denounce violence and terror and then sit down at the negotiation table to resolve issues based on valuing all humans without any discrimination.”
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