Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the international community must take decisive and effective measures against the US’ hostile and unilateral approach.
Addressing the Eurasian Economic Union Summit, President Rouhani stated, “I am delighted to have the historic opportunity to attend the great Eurasian Economic Union Summit in the beautiful and historic city of Yerevan, concurrent with the preparations for the implementation of the Interim Trade Agreement of the Islamic Republic of Iran with this union were provided. I should like to extend my sincere gratitude to Mr. Pashinyan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, for this important meeting.”
The summit of the Eurasian Economic Union is a great opportunity to exchange views and looking for solution on a number of international and regional issues and, hopefully, valuable results from the talks are achieved, the president added.
He added that the world system is based on multilateralism and the cooperation of all members of the international community, and all countries are obliged to confront unilateralism in accordance with their international commitment and responsibility and to maintain peace, security, stability and international order.
Iranian president said that the resistance and opposition of some countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran to the hostile and unilateral actions of the United States, has caused Iran to face severe and inhumane sanctions, adding that the United States has in recent years adopted a unilateralist approach and disregard for commitments, international agreements, and breach of bilateral agreements, have also targeted many other countries, including China and Russia and a number of its allies as well.
“In our view, the international community must confront a hostile and unilateralist approach of the US by taking decisive and effective measures,” he added. “The US coercive measures and the use of the dollar as a weapon will lead to economic terrorism and target the lives of ordinary people.”
Implementation of the JCPOA as an efficient model of multilateral diplomacy’s success in resolving international issues requires full implementation of commitments by all its signatories, and all UN members are committed to upholding and supporting its provisions, the Iranian president noted.
President Rouhani went on to say that the Islamic Republic expects the signatories of the JCPOA to take action to implement it, and under the current critical conditions in addition to the role of the remaining members in the JCPOA, other countries’ support for this multilateral achievement to preserve and enhance cooperation, security and regional and international stability is essential.
“Unfortunately, as a result of the destructive actions of the United States, we are witnessing a lot of problems in the economic ties among the countries today, growing poverty, insecurity, migration and slowing economic growth in the world, and the continuation of this tense environment will have irreparable damages,” the Iranian president noted. In such an atmosphere of fear and despair in the international system, “we need multilateral and regional economic cooperation in parallel with multilateralism in the international system”.
The high-ranking official highlighted that regional and collective cooperation in the form of economic, commercial and political unions such as the Eurasian Economic Union, the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) as the most important tools in regional economic-political integration is supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to maintain peace and stability in the region, including the Persian Gulf, and to secure the freedom and security of shipping, especially in the Strait of Hormuz, the head of the Supreme National Security Council said.
Referring to developments in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, President Rouhani said that recent events have put this security at serious risk. Security and peace in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz are provided by the participation of the countries in the region and, as I stated at the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, I invite all countries affected by the developments in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz to the Coalition of Hope namely the “Hormoz Peace Endeavor”.
Describing the goals of the “Coalition for Hope”, the President of Iran noted that the Coalition aims to promote peace, stability, progress and prosperity for all residents of the Strait of Hormuz, and the mutual understanding and peaceful and amicable relations between them. The initiative encompasses various areas of cooperation, such as public energy security, freedom of shipping and free movement of oil and other resources to countries in the Strait of Hormuz and beyond.
The Iranian president emphasized that the will of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to diversify economic relations and to rely on the principles of a resistant economy and to engage in more active regional and international cooperation. He went on to say that the signing of the Trade Agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union expresses Iran’s comprehensive and constructive vision, along with a political will to help develop multilateral and regional economic-trade relations. Implementing the agreement is seen as a step towards strengthening multilateral business structures.
Rouhani stated that the geographical location of Iran enables the transit link between continents of Europe and Asia and different countries in the West, East, North and South, to each other and said that Iran is interested in this blessing to help “our country’s sustainable development and make the best use of economic integration with other countries” in the region.
He added that with huge investments, various road and rail corridors have been designed and implemented to facilitate transit transportation, including the North-South Corridor, the Persian Gulf-Black Sea Corridor, the corridor foreseen in the Ashgabat Agreement, Eco road and rail corridors as well as air corridors.
The head of government pointed out Tehran’s transit capabilities and noted the numerous ports of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, particularly Chabahar, Iran’s road and rail networks and secure sky, makes it possible the neighboring countries to connect to each other and to other continents.
President Rouhani stressed that the Eurasian Customs Union could realize its capacities when moving towards integration in the field of transport strategy. He suggested that the member-states of the Eurasian Union to formulate a strategy to facilitate the transit of Eurasia, its transit procedures and regulations, facilitate the movement of freight and passenger vehicles into each other’s territories by designing and implementing smart solutions and removing obstacles.
Source: IRNA
