Iran's
President-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian, has issued a detailed letter outlining his
policies. There is an urgent need to understand his message, particularly for
the regional countries so that these don’t fall in the trap of anti-Iran and
anti-Muslim elements.
Following is the text of his message:
On May 19, 2024, the untimely passing of President Ebrahim
Raisi - a deeply respected and dedicated public servant - in a tragic
helicopter crash precipitated early elections in Iran, marking a pivotal moment
in our nation's history.
Amidst war and turbulence in our region, Iran’s political
system demonstrated remarkable stability by conducting elections in a
competitive, peaceful, and orderly manner, dispelling insinuations made by some
“Iran experts” in certain governments. This stability, and the dignified manner
in which the elections were conducted, underscore the discernment of our
Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and the dedication of our people to
democratic transition of power even in the face of adversity.
I ran for office on a platform of reform, fostering national
unity, and constructive engagement with the world, ultimately earning the trust
of my compatriots at the ballot box, including those young women and men
dissatisfied with the overall state of affairs. I deeply value their trust and
am fully committed to cultivating consensus, both domestically and
internationally, to uphold the promises I made during my campaign.
I wish to emphasize that my administration will be guided by
the commitment to preserving Iran's national dignity and international stature
under all circumstances. Iran’s foreign policy is founded on the principles of
"dignity, wisdom, and prudence", with the formulation and execution
of this state-policy being the responsibility of the president and the
government. I intend to leverage all authority granted to my office to pursue
this overarching objective.
With this in mind, my administration will pursue an opportunity-driven
policy by creating balance in relations with all countries, consistent with our
national interests, economic development, and requirements of regional and
global peace and security. Accordingly, we will welcome sincere efforts to
alleviate tensions and will reciprocate good-faith with good-faith.
Under my administration, we will prioritize strengthening
relations with our neighbors. We will champion the establishment of a
"strong region" rather than one where a single country pursues
hegemony and dominance over the others. I firmly believe that neighboring and
brotherly nations should not waste their valuable resources on erosive
competitions, arms races, or the unwarranted containment of each other.
Instead, we will aim to create an environment where our resources can be
devoted to the progress and development of the region for the benefit of
all.
We look forward to cooperating with Turkiye, Saudi Arabia,
Oman, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and regional
organizations to deepen our economic ties, bolster trade relations, promote
joint-venture investment, tackle common challenges, and move towards
establishing a regional framework for dialogue, confidence building and
development. Our region has been plagued for too long by war, sectarian
conflicts, terrorism and extremism, drug trafficking, water scarcity, refugee
crises, environmental degradation, and foreign interference. It is time to
tackle these common challenges for the benefit of future generations.
Cooperation for regional development and prosperity will be the guiding
principle of our foreign policy.
As nations endowed with abundant resources and shared
traditions rooted in peaceful Islamic teachings, we must unite and rely on the
power of logic rather than the logic of power. By leveraging our normative
influence, we can play a crucial role in the emerging post-polar global order
by promoting peace, creating a calm environment conducive to sustainable
development, fostering dialogue, and dispelling Islamophobia. Iran is prepared
to play its fair share in this regard.
In 1979, following the Revolution, the newly established
Islamic Republic of Iran, motivated by respect for international law and
fundamental human rights, severed ties with two apartheid regimes, Israel and
South Africa. Israel remains an apartheid regime to this day, now adding
"genocide" to a record already marred by occupation, war crimes,
ethnic cleansing, settlement-building, nuclear weapons possession, illegal
annexation, and aggression against its neighbors.
As a first measure, my administration will urge our
neighboring Arab countries to collaborate and utilize all political and
diplomatic leverages to prioritize achieving a permanent ceasefire in Gaza
aiming to stop the massacre and prevent the broadening of the conflict. We must
then diligently work to end the prolonged occupation that has devastated the
lives of four generations of Palestinians. In this context, I want to emphasize
that all states have a binding duty under the 1948 Genocide Convention to take
measures to prevent genocide; not to reward it through normalization of
relations with the perpetrators.
Today, it seems that many young people in Western countries
have recognized the validity of our decades-long stance on the Israeli regime.
I would like to take this opportunity to tell this brave generation that we
regard the allegations of antisemitism against Iran for its principled stance
on the Palestinian issue as not only patently false but also as an insult to
our culture, beliefs, and core values. Rest assured that these accusations are
as absurd as the unjust claims of antisemitism directed at you while you
protest on university campuses to defend the Palestinians' right to life.
China and Russia have consistently stood by us during
challenging times. We deeply value this friendship. Our 25-year roadmap with
China represents a significant milestone towards establishing a mutually
beneficial "comprehensive strategic partnership," and we look forward
to collaborating more extensively with Beijing as we advance towards a new
global order. In 2023, China played a pivotal role in facilitating the
normalization of our relations with Saudi Arabia, showcasing its constructive
vision and forward-thinking approach to international affairs.
Russia is a valued strategic ally and neighbor to Iran and
my administration will remain committed to expanding and enhancing our
cooperation. We strive for peace for the people of Russia and Ukraine, and my
government will stand prepared to actively support initiatives aimed at
achieving this objective. I will continue to prioritize bilateral and
multilateral cooperation with Russia, particularly within frameworks such as
BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Eurasia Economic Union.
Recognizing that the global landscape has evolved beyond
traditional dynamics, my administration is committed to fostering mutually
beneficial relations with emerging international players in the Global South,
especially with African nations. We will strive to enhance our collaborative
efforts and strengthen our partnerships for the mutual benefit of all
involved.
Iran's relations with Latin America are well-established and
will be closely maintained and deepened to foster development, dialogue and
cooperation in all fields. There is significantly more potential for
cooperation between Iran and the countries of Latin America than what is
currently being realized, and we look forward to further strengthening our
ties.
Iran’s relations with Europe have known its ups and downs.
After the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action) in May 2018, European countries made eleven commitments to Iran to try
to salvage the agreement and mitigate the impact of the United States’ unlawful
and unilateral sanctions on our economy. These commitments involved ensuring
effective banking transactions, effective protection of companies from US
sanctions, and the promotion of investments in Iran. European countries have
reneged on all these commitments, yet unreasonably expect Iran to unilaterally
fulfill all its obligations under the JCPOA.
Despite these missteps, I look forward to engaging in
constructive dialogue with European countries to set our relations on the right
path, based on principles of mutual respect and equal footing. European
countries should realize that Iranians are a proud people whose rights and
dignity can no longer be overlooked. There are numerous areas of cooperation
that Iran and Europe can explore once European powers come to terms with this
reality and set aside self-arrogated moral supremacy coupled with manufactured
crises that have plagued our relations for so long. Opportunities for
collaboration include economic and technological cooperation, energy security,
transit routes, environment, as well as combating terrorism and drug
trafficking, refugee crises, and other fields, all of which could be pursued to
the benefit of our nations.
The United States also needs to recognize the reality and
understand, once and for all, that Iran does not—and will not—respond to
pressure. We entered the JCPOA in 2015 in good faith and fully met our
obligations. But the United States unlawfully withdrew from the agreement
motivated by purely domestic quarrels and vengeance, inflicting hundreds of
billions of dollars in damage to our economy, and causing untold suffering,
death and destruction on the Iranian people—particularly during the Covid
pandemic—through the imposition of extraterritorial unilateral sanctions. The
US deliberately chose to escalate hostilities by waging not only an economic
war against Iran but also engaging in state terrorism by assassinating General
Qassem Soleimani, a global anti-terrorism hero known for his success in saving
the people of our region from the scourge of ISIS and other ferocious terrorist
groups. Today, the world is witnessing the harmful consequences of that
choice.
The US and its Western allies, not only missed a historic
opportunity to reduce and manage tensions in the region and the world, but also
seriously undermined the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by showing that the
costs of adhering to the tenets of the non-proliferation regime could outweigh
the benefits it may offer. Indeed, the US and its Western allies have abused
the non-proliferation regime to fabricate a crisis regarding Iran's peaceful
nuclear program - openly contradicting their own intelligence assessment - and
use it to maintain sustained pressure on our people, while they have actively
contributed to and continue to support the nuclear weapons of Israel, an
apartheid regime, a compulsive aggressor and a non-NPT member and a known
possessor of illegal nuclear arsenal.
I wish to emphasize that Iran’s defense doctrine does not
include nuclear weapons and urge the United States to learn from past
miscalculations and adjust its policy accordingly. Decision-makers in
Washington need to recognize that a policy that consists of pitting regional
countries against each other has not succeeded and will not succeed in the
future. They need to come to terms with this reality and avoid exacerbating
current tensions.
The Iranian people have entrusted me with a strong mandate
to vigorously pursue constructive engagement on the international stage while
insisting on our rights, our dignity and our deserved role in the region and
the world. I extend an open invitation to those willing to join us in this
historic endeavor.
