President Rouhani addressed the 70th UN General Assembly in New York on Monday, where he touched upon major themes in the Middle East, especially prospects for developments in Syrian crisis.
“During the Mina incident for Hajj pilgrimage, the loss of lives of innocent people goes beyond the scope of being simply limited to specific country; Saudi Arabia is expected to facilitate the process of an independent investigation on the Mina tragedy; we expect that the Saudi government facilitate the access to the dead pilgrims and cooperate with Iranian officials in transfer of the corpses,” was Rouhani’s brief sideswipe to the Mina tragic incident in Saudi Arabia.
“Now I can proudly announce there will be a new chapter in relations of Iran and the international community. Iranians voted in an election to a government that secured constructive dialogue with the world; this national resolve is in a framework of a constructive deal with the 5+1, crystallized in the JCPOA. This international document is a solid basis for the first time in the history of UN, since they sat and came to compromise before the war or crisis; we decided to preserve our principles to the point that was necessary and chose to concede wherever possible or necessary, we showed intransigence in our rights; the key point is that any player in international front that seeks maximum demands and considers no position for the other players is not in a position to seek peace and stability; as in trade, the interests of different parties should be considered, the politics is also the same,” Rouhani indirectly addressed the superpowers seeking hegemonic and a unipolar world.
“In many cases of major crises, this international body has not been successful. This time it had taken right decision, despite the resolutions and sanctions against Iran, still, as an Iranian proverb would clearly indicate, the resolution is important to the cancellation of resolutions against Iran ‘any time soon,’ which the proverb accurately intends to communicate,” he said.
“We stressed the UN decisions were not accurate, and as Leader of the Islamic Republic said, sanctions had been illegal and unilateral sanctions had been on the basis of unfounded allegations; these sanctions will never affect our policy; on negotiations we proved that the only option on the table were defense of the nation against any threat. The US came to recognize that the negotiation table was a good option. Lots of time and energy was spent by the parties to secure the implementation of the deal. In parallel with the implementation of JCPOA, we expect to see the nuclear disbarment come to the focus to free the region of any WMD; the Israel is the only barrier on this way, however,” Rouhani told UNGA.
“The JCPOA stopped any possibility of war and crisis in the Middle East and it should be so, given the fact that this JCPOA has come up with a right paradigm, well, our policy is based on the fact that the new era will be the peace for the region in a win-win situation, and we should act in a way to share the peace for everyone,” he went on to say.
“Our relations with regional countries will be based on mutual respect and collective interest. Unfortunately, the Africa and the Middle East are the regions with highest tensions in the world. In a world connected, regions can hardly make the borders impenetrable for others; the great threat is that terrorist organizations are supported and the region is roamed by the terrorists who want to determine the fate of the nations instead of ballot boxes. We propose the avoidance of intervention and we are willing to cooperate with the international community, as we did once in Afghanistan and Iraq and we will do in Iraq and Yemen,” Rouhani emphasized.
“Today, we will look in the near future, with bright prospect and cooperation with peaceful symbiosis; we do not want to be stuck in the past and will not forget the war; but with JCPOA, we do not only seek an agreement, but attempted to work out a new order in the basis of respect and coexistence between UN member states; we need to learn lessons from the past. But attainment of the peace will not be possible by stockpiling weapons. Rather, we have told others that the sustainable peace and development could be possible through collaboration,” he proposed.
“Iran is prepared to turn itself to an investment hub based on mutual interest. We hope our neighbors will have good collaboration with the neighbors. The international order today is actually the major key for economic activities; in 2013, I talked about the WAVE (World against Violence and Extremism) and you sealed the approval for the WAVE here in the UN; the thought behind it was an experienced pathway. The WAVE will come up with a plan to end the violence and extremism; we invite all for a campaign and joint front against violence,” he told the UNGA.
“That [attempts for peace] will be started through a dialogue to prevent slaughter of innocent citizens. By supporting central governments, we will bring peace in the Middle East. Iraq, Syria, and Yemen are the product of the same approach to spread violence, extremism, poverty, and bombardment that do not heed the demands of the people. The Arab world crisis aftermath now has spread up to the EU. And also their products has destructed the region and occupation and aggression have been the major theme; If the US did not invade Afghanistan and did not support Israel in occupied lands of Palestine, there would be no need to such measures as this to prevent the current pandemonium in the Middle East. We invite the US to respect the will of the nations in avoiding support one of the clashing forces only; we have many capacities with a long history and civilization, we envision a bright future for world and international community; we believe that the last victor will be the pious and true believers,” Rouhani concluded the UN speech.
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