IRANIAN Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that if it wasn’t for ‘Iran’s support (for Iraq) and presence’ in fighting the group calling itself Islamic State, Baghdad would have ‘fallen.
Zarif made the remarks at a joint meeting of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Institute for Political and International Studies and the European Council on Foreign Relations in Tehran.
Zarif said: ‘The source of the crisis in Iraq should be pursued seriously to know how it spread, which forces have supported Da’ish (group calling itself Islamic State, also known as IS/ISIS/ISIL) in the region, and why have some individuals joined this group from Europe.
‘No permanent solution can be found for this crisis without taking these points into consideration.’
Saying that Baghdad would fall if it wasn’t for Iran’s ‘support and presence’, he added: ‘If regional states and superpowers bring military forces to this country (Iraq), they will provide Da’ish with a pretext and facilitate joining this group and this can lead to serious outcomes for the region and the international environment.’
The foreign minister emphasised that a comprehensive strategy was required to solve the issue in Iraq and Syria, not military actions.
He added: ‘The (US-led) coalition made against Da’ish, consists of countries which are US allies but helped Da’ish in selling oil, provide this group with weapons and financial support, and provide it with safe routes; this is a contradiction that the coalition is facing.’
On Syria, he said: ‘Efforts for weakening the Syrian government equals strengthening Da’ish and this is another contradiction which the anti-Da’ish coalition is facing.’
Saying that the chain of crises in the Middle East sourced from ‘geopolitical rivalry’, Zarif added that due to such contradictions, issues such as Iran’s nuclear issue and other problems such as the crisis in Syria had not reached a ‘pleasant’ outcome that would guarantee security and stability in the region.
Commenting on Iran’s nuclear issue, he said: ‘Measures taken so far by the USA and Europe to stop Iran’s (nuclear) activities have resulted in nothing but the country’s progress in nuclear technology and under the current circumstances, the other parties have reached the conclusion that Iran’s nuclear issue should be resolved urgently.
‘However, there are individuals with certain interests who are trying to have this made-up crisis continue, that is a crisis which certain regional players have propagated to be able to justify their short-term strategic aims in the region.’
Zarif said the only solution to Iran’s ‘fabricated crisis’ was to reach an agreement. He added: ‘Depriving Iran of its nuclear programme cannot be the solution to this issue, because Iran has achieved nuclear science and technology and our scientists’ knowledge and capabilities cannot be limited. The countries negotiating with Iran (P5+1) should accept the truth about Iran’s nuclear issue. The situation is different from 10 years ago and one cannot go back to the past.
‘The conditions in negotiations have turned towards a direction where Europe can play a serious and outstanding role to establish a balance among the parties which are negotiating with Iran.
‘Such a role is of great importance not just for Iran, but also for Europe’s international status,’ Zarif added.
Meanwhile, Iranian ambassador to Afghanistan, Mohammad Reza Bahram, gave an interview to clarify the administration’s position to news website E’temad entitled: ‘We have not held talks with America over Afghanistan’.
Mohammad Reza Bahram said: ‘The election battle between Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ghani eventually ended with the division of power in Afghanistan and Ghani becoming the president.
‘It was only hours after the ceremony to transfer power from Hamed Karzai to Ghani that the security agreement between the United States and Afghanistan, which the previous president had refused to sign, became official with the new president’s stamp of confirmation.
‘During the five months that have passed since the holding of the elections in Afghanistan and the eventual announcement of the final result, that country has experienced many political ups and downs and it still cannot be said that Afghanistan has passed through the political and security hurdles of those ups and downs.
‘At a time when the security agreement between Afghanistan and America has been executed with the two sides’ signature, the cooperation agreement between Tehran and Kabul, which was devised during the last months of the Karzai presidency, was not signed by Karzai and it seems that it will be Ghani who must make a decision regarding the signing of that cooperation agreement with Tehran.’
Bahram went on to say: ‘Two prominent features of the recent elections in Afghanistan were the significant participation of the people despite the threats and insecurities that existed as well as the nature of those elections, by which the transfer of power in that country took place through peaceful means and the direct votes of the people for the first time.
‘In fact these elections were another sign of the formation of religious democracy following decades of crisis and for that reason, the holding of these elections was welcomed and supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
‘Regarding the results of the elections, in the end both candidates agreed to form a National Unity Government through mutual cooperation and effort.
‘The Islamic Republic of Iran’s position in this regard is to support the agreement reached and the government that will result from it.
‘Based on the security pact that was recently signed between Afghanistan and America, there is no talk of all foreign forces leaving Afghanistan over the current Gregorian calendar year.
‘In addition to the security agreement with America, the government of Afghanistan tried to sign a similar pact called SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) with NATO which is in reality the continuation of the previous agreement with ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) and NATO has replaced ISAF in this pact.
‘The formation of the National Unity Government has mostly been based on political agreement between two honourable candidates and not on legal processes and naturally the role of individuals will become more highlighted and crucial in such a process.
‘The current conditions are a factor of the resolve of the president and the chief executive in strengthening the atmosphere of understanding and the creation of hope among the people about the future.
‘In my opinion the most important challenges of the government internally are, in the first step, to increase security which has a direct relationship with the plan of national reconciliation and the agreement of the Taleban and other rebel groups to start the process of negotiations with the government of Afghanistan and in the next phase, to combat corruption and inefficiency.
‘The hope exists that the government will be able to reach effective results regarding these two issues.’
