Javad Zarif who was addressing the inauguration ceremony of new FM spokesperson praised the role of the media and journalism as contributing to the transparency of the affairs and as providing caveats to authorities to prevent their fall into abysses of corruption, just as the medieval ‘mirror for magistrates’ had done for rulers of the past.
His address coincided and touched the National Day of Journalists/Reporters, a day designated by the government to honor the efforts of the media community of country. Zarif took the opportunity to pay tribute to domestic media as the benefactors of the country and the state; “to the extend that you are concerned and disturbed with pressing issues of the country and would tirelessly work to solve problems, our fellow colleagues in the foreign ministry have been engaged in foreign issues facing the country,” Zarif told the meeting. “Relations between the media and foreign ministry could not have been more cordial and constructive; during nuclear negotiations, I had told the negotiators that our media had far more difficult job than you do; reporting about an event without what happens in a session would be a demanding task indeed and our media working from Vienna had done a great feat in keeping the public informed with the events,” he detailed.
“We believe the media should not be a client of the state, trying to evade serious criticism and act as merely sycophants and a community who deceived the authorities by inaccurate stories of the status quo; rather, we believe that they should be alert to the corruption and deviations of the officials and magistrates; they should constantly provide caveats to authorities to beware them of their inevitable fall into disrepute,” Zarif told the meeting. “Free media and journalism is a universally acknowledged device to voice the problems and grievances of the public to an international audience without encumbering the government with unnecessary burdens.”
Zarif lambasted Saudi authorities of conducts almost puerile and which no country would dare to act; “their current disarray of their foreign policy and overhasty measures well betray their anger which would no longer be concealed; anger which had been fueled by Iran’s hitting a nuclear deal with the west; Saudi officials lack the necessary courage and moral integrity to accept the act and the responsibility coming from that act; in the case of their sending Anvar Esghi to Zionist regime and Turki bin Faisal to Maryam Rajavi belie their lack of courage,” he berated Saudi officials.
He also reiterated his remarks during June 14 2015 meetings which secured JCPOA; “since the beginning, we told the public that the JCPOA was a tradeoff with world’s six powers; we, as the representatives of a nation of great perseverance, we persuaded these six powers that they lacked necessary means to deprive us our power means,” he added.
Zarif again emphasized that Iran enjoyed power bases quite different from what the west could understand; “our power, our independence, and our distinct identity standing apart provide us with a tool for power and influence. What has made our people stand out, is their resistance, not their tools. If we consider a set of power tools [for the Islamic Republic], we will find that a part of the Islamic Revolution’s discourse is anti-Imperialism, with a second part being self-belief; yet a third part is rejecting dominance and hegemony,” was reminiscent of Zarif’s remarks in his interview to Khorasan daily earlier in April.
“The west was grossly misinterpreted Iran’s conditions as largely devastated; however, our nation, under the sage leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei and President Rouhani, succeeded to achieve a great feat to completely change the ground for our interest during the negotiations,” Zarif told the meeting. “Saudi Arabia would now negotiate with the Devil himself, let alone the Zionist regime, since they have smelt that some strategic change have happened about Iran’s position; for the very reason, they have been futilely working to prevent this hegemonic position for Iran which will swept away, if conditions demand, the petty kingdoms of the Persian Gulf in terms of strategic power,” he concluded.
SH/3737988
Your Comment