Participants From 36 Countries Attend Tehran Dialogue Forum
Iran’s Push for Regional Friendship
TEHRAN -- The third Tehran
Dialogue Forum (TCF) was held here Monday, with officials and representatives from different countries across the world taking part.
This year’s initiative focused on the policy of the Islamic Republic toward its neighbors and its approach to friendship and trust-building. The forum was attended by nearly 70 officials and representatives of think tanks and research centers from 36 countries.
Addressing the forum, head of the Strategic Council of Foreign Relations Kamal Kharrazi Kamal said developments in the region require cooperation.
Iran, he said, has always welcomed and called for dialogue, adding the countries of the region should resolve their issues and problems through dialogue.
Kharrazi welcomed the recent visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the region, noting that “in order to plan the belt and road initiative, more investments will be made in these countries and our region will develop further.”
The former foreign minister touched on the Ukraine war, saying Iran has been against it from the beginning, but NATO’s buildup near Russia’s borders was provocative and the U.S. and the West were after imposing a war on Moscow.
“War is not desirable and even today we believe that the war in Ukraine should end through dialogue. Iran is ready to provide the means for such a dialogue,” he added.
Kharrazi also offered his take on Iraq’s developments, saying that Iran would be happy to see an Iraqi government reaching stability after witnessing consecutive calamities during the past two years.
On neighboring Afghanistan, he advised the Taliban not to allow terrorism to develop in the country, and prevent any foreign forces to have a presence there.
“They should not allow America to enter Afghanistan under various pretexts, and they should form a government that is inclusive and all Afghan tribes and religions participate in it.”
Former Iraqi PM Blasts West
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi also addressed the forum, censuring the U.S. and some Western countries for their ongoing allegations on human rights violations in West Asia.
“In 2021, there were more than 2 million prisoners in the U.S., and in 2022, the average crime rate has reached 54% in France. These are only some of the social indicators in western countries,” he said.
He said the U.S. is a system of dominance and a materialistic state that represents colonialism.
Abdul Mahdi touched on the changing world order, saying that “in the 21st century, we see the center of power moving from the West to Asia, Africa and Latin America.”
Iran FM: West Trying to
Destabilize Iran
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian strongly slammed the United States and its Western allies for their interventionist stances and remarks on the recent developments in the country, saying they seek to destabilize the state.
“Irresponsible and arbitrary positions and interventions of the United States and some Western countries ... for inciting riots in Iran through political tools, cognitive, media and hybrid forms of warfare represent their maximum effort aimed at destabilizing the country,” he said.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has warned meddlesome parties against any intervention in its domestic affairs and is carefully observing such illegitimate interventions and will give a strong response to them,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
He said the countries that play host to terrorists or encourage economic and media terrorism and foment violence must note that terrorism and insecurity are a global phenomenon.
“You cannot live in a glass house and throw stones without being harmed.”
He said the Islamic Republic of Iran is based on people’s will, and peaceful demands of its people, and that the internal developments of the country should not be exploited by others as a means of settling political scores.
U.S. Hypocrisy
The top Iranian diplomat slammed U.S. hypocrisy on the negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear accord which was abandoned by former U.S. president Donald Trump in 2018.
He said, “On the one hand, the United States talks about the nuclear negotiations and taking the final steps to achieve an agreement, while on the other hand, it supports insecurity and instability in Iran.”
“This hypocritical policy must end. If this is done and the United States takes realistic and practical steps to reach an agreement and return to its obligations as per the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic of Iran is also ready to take the final steps toward an agreement for the removal of sanctions and return of all parties to their obligations,” he added.
Amir-Abdollahian also pointed to Iran’s stance on the ongoing war in Ukraine which he said Tehran has not changed since the outbreak of the crisis.
“Our principled policy has been based on rejection of … the use of force and emphasis on the settlement of the conflict through political channels. Since the outbreak of this crisis, we have adopted active neutrality and emphasized the position that the legitimate security concerns of the two parties should be considered and resolved through dialogue,” he said.
He once again rejected the baseless allegations that Iran has supplied one of the parties involved in the crisis with weapons and drones and said Tehran stresses that the propaganda regarding the use of Iranian drones in the conflict has no objective but to cover up the West’s bids to fan the flames of the war and violence in Ukraine.
Such claims are made against Iran under the circumstances that billions of dollars of different types of weapons from Western countries have been sent to Ukraine to prolong the war, he said.
Both Iran and Russia have repeatedly denied claims that Tehran has provided Moscow with drones to be used in the Ukraine war.
The Iranian minister further said 20 years of foreign military presence by occupiers in Afghanistan has failed to bring in security and welfare to the people of the country who are in completely unsuitable and worrisome conditions.
“The U.S. has left Afghanistan but it is seeking to perpetuate its presence in this country and create challenges for the regional countries through its instrumental use of terrorist groups.”