Zarif’s Regional Visits

Mr. Zarif’s regional visits are good initiatives in using the existing atmosphere and the government must pursue the same path in all issues. We must not just be happy with the nuclear agreement. A successful government is one which takes actions after any positive steps it takes. The government should appreciate this atmosphere and use it to the benefit of the people both inside and outside of the country.

Now Mr. Zarif has taken certain initiatives in this regard. Of course this point must be mentioned that these measures should not be taken hastily so that the neighboring countries would not conclude that the new administration is ready to accept any deal. Our neighbors should know that Iran is determined to play a positive role in the regional developments and is seriously committed to the peace and security of the region. Iran’s firm determination is very significant and will affect the future decisions of the neighboring countries. There are two serious issues for Iran in the region: Iraq and Syria. Of course the nature of these two issues is different. Mr. Zarif pursued this path in his visits to Syria and Lebanon and a limited and short term cease fire was established in part of Syria which, of course, is not sufficient but is a good start. Mr. Zarif’s visit to New Delhi was also an important visit because India is Iran’s trade partner and one of Iran’s oil buyers. India’s cooperation in the imposition of sanctions against Iran seriously damaged this cooperation. Following the right decision made by Switzerland to lift its sanctions against Iran, positive reactions of countries like India could be very effective. If this trend continues within the next few months and other countries also welcome the horizon of Iran and the P5+1, the hardliners of the US Congress will be isolated. The US President has also warned them regarding this issue and believes that if the hardliners of the Congress decide to reject this agreement, the US will be isolated in world politics.

This is a very important point and we must move forward in this direction in order to isolate the opponents of the nuclear agreement in the West. Iran plays an important role in the region. Of course we must not raise our expectations from Mr. Zarif’s visits, but he has taken good steps. We must know that the responsibility of the Foreign Ministry is not only to resolve the nuclear dispute, and that it has numerous tasks and responsibilities.

This point must also be mentioned that it is now time for the economic team of the administration to attract foreign investments and improve the working atmosphere so that the impacts of the economic recession of the past few years will gradually be eliminated.