Algiers - Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday that success hinges on unity, solidarity and cohesion of member states of the Non-Aligned Movement and a sober realization of the challenges and the opportunities that bind them together.
Zarif made the remarks in an address to the 17th Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Algiers.
Zarif termed the NAM meeting as an opportunity provided by the virtue of membership in the Movement to come together and consult multilateral and bilaterally on the current daunting challenges and those looming ahead.
He said to benefit from this and similar opportunities, we need to focus more clearly on those issues that directly or indirectly jeopardize peace, which has been, along with development, one of the two major and central objectives of our movement from its inception.
He said that the global community has been undergoing profound and rapid changes in the past two decades; and unprecedented opportunities and challenges have presented themselves.
ˈWhile members of the Movement like the rest of the world, have different views and perspectives and at times divergent interests on some issues, what brings us together is far greater than those differences.ˈ
ˈThe fluidity of the global environment, and the fundamental changes in the nature of power as well as the multiplication of the sources and possessors of influence, give us an unparalleled opportunity to go beyond being the scene of global crises and to participate in shaping the global answers. Challenges and opportunities are far beyond national boundaries and require collective response. We - and others - need to realize that most the global calamities are happening to us and in our regions and without us they cannot be resolved.ˈ
The Minister said the world is grappling with extremism, violence, sectarianism and enmities among different groups, which unfortunately give rise to a vicious cycle of new breeding grounds and instigation for further extremism and terrorism.
ˈThis grave challenge moved the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran to propose to the General Assembly to create a global WAVE: World Against Violence and Extremism. The resolution that was adopted by consensus last December is a milestone in focusing the international attention to this plague. We believe that the NAM has a vested interest, both in principles we espouse as well as in dangers we face, to spearhead local, national and international efforts to carry out the ideas contained in this resolution.ˈ
Zarif made clear that in parallel with efforts aimed at containing and thwarting extremist individuals and groups, it is also imperative to world toward easing and removing causes of tension in various parts of the world.
The Iranian top diplomat said further in his address that the continued plight of the Palestinian people and the denial of their inalienable rights is at the heart of violence, instability and security in our region and beyond.
ˈWe need to focus on the realities of the past 7 decades to appreciate that many smoke screens have been created to hide the brutal fact of continued depravation of the rights of the Palestinian people and the plundering of their land and resources. We should continue to insist on the long-held common position of our Movement that there can be no stability without restoration of these rights, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. We in the Movement have a vital interest in promoting this shared objective and refusing to accept, let alone play along, the disinformation campaigns to divert attention and misplace blame.ˈ
He said one important foundation of that campaign has been an attempt to spread phobias and securitize those who have resisted.
ˈThe Iranian nuclear issue is a case in point. Donˈt you find it absurd that a non-member of the NPT, with huge nuclear arsenal, posing the greatest existential threat to the entire Middle East, has made a mockery of NPT and international law by drawing red lines about Iranˈs peaceful nuclear program? Is it anything but a diversion tactic? This is why the Iranian peaceful nuclear energy program has been subject of enormous hype over the past several decades. Throughout this period, they kept trying to paint the face of Iran as a threatening one to its region and the whole world; a claim that have always turned out to be utterly false.ˈ
The minister said Iran is committed not to work towards developing or producing nuclear weapons.
ˈThis is not just because we are NPT members, but more importantly because we believe that such weapons undermine our national security.ˈ
Zarif told the conference that the Iranian Presidential elections last year provided a new opportunity to dispel the myth of Iranian nuclear threat by engaging in a serious ongoing talks with P5+1.
The Joint Plan of Action adopted in Geneva on 24 November 2013 showed that it was possible to resolve the issue, said Zarif, adding that it thus became the nightmare of warmongers, whose interests rest in conflict, tension and phobias. ˈThey had imposed unprecedented sanctions against Iranian people, depriving them of the possibility even to have access to medicine. But, we in Iran have shown that no amount of sanction or pressure will undermine our resolve to move forward and insist on our rights. That remains unchanged. Our scientific achievements are genuine, profound, and non-negotiable. But we have nothing to hid and in an atmosphere of mutual respect and equal footing can show that our nuclear program will always remain exclusively peaceful. We have made significant progress, and while the read is hard and bumpy and illusionists are still hard at world, we can reach an agreement within the next few months. We are grateful to our friends in the Non-Aligned Movement, who have understood the political game. We hope that they will continue to insist that sanctions violate the most fundamental human rights, constitute illegitimate tools of pressure and intimidation and cannot be accepted. The trend of arbitrary sanctions motivated by short-sighted political and even economic interest is dangerous for all of us and not simply the current targets.ˈ
Zarif said while baseless allegations lie at the root of a campaign of pressure and sanctions against Iran, the deep concerns of the international community over the failure of the nuclear weapons states to abide by their commitment to nuclear disarmament and refusal to implement the 1995 Resolution on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East continue to go unheeded. We should follow up on our demands in these areas and stress that the sponsors of the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East fully implement, without any further delay, the measures contained in the Action Plan on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction.ˈ
© IRNA 2014
