Speaking in a meeting in the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces of the French Senate on Wednesday, Zarif said Foreign Ministry will provoke Iran-France parliamentary ties which is efficient for Tehran-Paris friendship and can strengthen the tw nations' understandings of each other.
He underlined Tehran will host next week the President of the Senate of France Gérard Larcher.
Zarif pointed to the massive participation of Iranian nation in recent parliament elections on February, saying “While voting is not obligatory in Iran, 62 per cent of Iranian nation voted to a moderate Parliament and all political parties are satidfied with the results.”
With regards to the fight against terrorism, Zarif said it requires global cooperation and “we must be ready to accept problems and do our best to find a joint and global solution for them.”
He said Iran, as a victim of terrorism, is fully ready to cooperate by any means to solve the global issue.
Today, in the field of regional issues, no problem is confined to one location, Zarif said, adding “unfortunately, the recent terrorist attacks in France revealed the fact that in today's world we do not have any local problem, but global ones; problems expand from one place to another showing that solutions must be global too.”
He also asserted that such problems would never be solved through military means; political problems need political solutions and most importantly political problems lead to the spread of extremism.
In a military solution, Zarif emphasized, one side is winner and other is loser; so this solution does not work; we have to find a political solution and should encourage the Syrian people to fight for their rights.
FM Zarif noted that feeling of being marginalized, disrespect and economic failures and injustice among young people in different societies are the underlying conditions where demagogues could attract the youth towards terrorist groups.
Zarif reiterated that along with the fight against extremist groups, we must deprive them of financial and human resources which requires a global effort.
He said Iran seeks good relations with all its neighbors and highly regards regional relations which is even more important than the nuclear issue.
Insisting on the need for dialogue, he said “from the beginning, we believed that our region requires a regional framework of cooperation and dialogue, therefore, we offered to create a forum for dialogue in the Persian Gulf which is much like what you know it as the Helsinki project.”
He also emphasized the necessity of adhering to principles such as respect for borders and noninterference in the internal affairs of others.
“Iran is not a monologue community; it hosts different perspectives; we want logical relationships; we do not accept conditions through which the rights of the Bahraini people is marred by a group and people are deprived of their rights; at the same time good neighborliness is Iran's unchangeable policy,” Zarif noted.
In another parts of his speech at the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces of the French Senate, Zarif referred to the banking problems between Iran and France saying “for contracts between Tehran and Paris banks there are still problems to be solved.”
Pointing to President Rouhani’s recent visit to Paris, Zarif said the two sides signed important deals which can make the ties between the two countries as a role model during post-sanctions era.
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