“Iran’s foreign policy is founded on the principles of ‘dignity, wisdom, and prudence,’” Iran’s President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian, a lawmaker and heart surgeon by profession, told the world on July 12. Pezeshkian’s message in Tehran Times and other media. He looks to create a “balance in relation with all countries, consistent with” Iran’s national “interests, economic development, and requirements of regional and global peace and security.” He hopes to establish a “strong region” instead of “one where a single country pursues hegemony and dominance over the others.” Hinting strongly to regional current wars he writes, “nations should not waste their valuable resources on erosive competitions, arms races, or the unwarranted containment of each other.” He added, “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.”
Delineating the countries of the region, Pezeshkian hopes to bring about cooperation to “bolster trade … promote joint-venture investment, tackle common challenges, and move” to establish “a regional framework for dialogue.” He laments, “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.” So, he asserts his vision to change all this, “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.”
He devotes special attention to Israel’s “genocide” against the Palestinians. Pezeshkian writes a first measure his administration will take is to “urge our neighboring Arab countries to collaborate and utilize all political and diplomatic leverages to prioritize achieving a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.” He insists, “stop the massacre and prevent the broadening of the conflict.” Diligent work to “end the prolonged occupation that has devastated the lives of four generations of Palestinians” must begin. He remarks, “under the 1948 Genocide Convention” all states “have a binding duty to take measures to prevent genocide.” Next, with a nod to “young people in Western countries” who are seeing the “validity of our decades-long stance on the Israeli regime,” he tells this “brave generation” that “allegations of anti-Semitism against Iran” are “patently false” and are an “insult to our culture, beliefs, and core values.” Such “accusations are as absurd as the unjust claims of antisemitism directed at you while you protest on university campuses” to defend “Palestinians’ right to life.”
Harkening to China’s brokering of Saudi-Iran rapprochement of March 10, 2023, and Russia’s support during the U.S.-European imposed sanctions on Iran, Pezeshkian writes, “China and Russia have consistently stood by us during challenging times.” As to Iran’s foreign policy with China, “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.” He especially lauds China’s “pivotal role in facilitating the normalization of our relations with Saudi Arabia,” which showed “its constructive vision and forward-thinking approach to international affairs.” Recall Iran is one of the new members of the BRICS.
On Russia, they are “a valued strategic ally and neighbor” with which “my administration will remain committed to expanding and enhancing our cooperation.” On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Pezeshkian will “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 Eurasian Economic Union.”
He also hopes to foster “mutually beneficial relations with emerging international players in the Global South, especially with African nations.” Similarly, he looks to maintain and deepen relations with “Latin America” promoting “dialogue and cooperations in all fields.” He sees “more potential for cooperation between Iran and the countries of Latin America than what is currently being realized.”
Finally, chides Europe and the U.S. for failure to deal with Iran based on principles of “mutual respect and an equal footing.” He points to the vast opportunities for “economic and technological cooperation” on “energy security, transit routes, environment, as well as combatting terrorism and drug trafficking, refugee crisis,” and more for Europe could engage in with Iran. As for the U.S. he adamantly states, “Iran does not—and will not—respond to pressure,” to illustrate he points to their unlawful withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2015 which inflicted “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.” He concludes that Iran’s defense doctrine “does not include nuclear weapons” and he urges the U.S. to learn from “past miscalculations” so as to adjust its policy.
