President Pezeshkian made the remarks during his speech at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Plus Summit, which took place on Monday in Tianjin, China. The summit was held alongside the SCO Heads of State Summit.
The following is the full text of Pezeshkian's speech at the SCO Plus Summit:
The annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has, since its establishment, been a unique opportunity for dialogue and exchange among countries that share a common concern for peace, cooperation, and coordinated efforts to create a fairer and safer world.
Over the past three decades, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has promoted a new model of regional and international cooperation based not on hostility and identity conflict, but on cooperation, mutual trust, and respect for diversity. While the world, after the Cold War, failed to fulfill people’s desire for a more peaceful world due to unilateral efforts, the experience of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has kept alive the hope that countries with diverse cultural, civilizational, and different political, economic, and military positions can interact and cooperate with each other from an equal standing without superiority.
The experience of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has shown that cooperation, especially among developing countries and emerging economies, can provide practical responses to global challenges such as economic inequalities, sanctions, climate change, and transnational security crises.
The expansion of the organization's dialogues with other like-minded countries within the Shanghai Plus framework is also a valuable opportunity for deepening and developing these collaborations.
Our world needs a new understanding and framework for global cooperation. Such a framework must first distance itself from power-based logic and replace it with principles based on equality and justice. All countries, regardless of size or wealth, should enjoy equal rights and representation in global governance. Fortunately, the prevailing discourse in the discussions and statements of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, thanks to the attention of all members, has always been based on achieving peace and security through justice and development. In this regard, we hope that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, after reaching a common understanding and establishing various mechanisms, will place greater emphasis on its role in important global issues, especially those that clearly undermine justice and development in the world.
Furthermore, expanding cooperation with Global South countries, especially in the areas of financial cooperation and joint investments in infrastructure, should be taken more seriously by the organization. We believe that the organization, given its existing capacities, can become a coordinating center and a decisive hub in the field of utilizing new technologies and artificial intelligence. The Islamic Republic of Iran, with its vast scientific resources, energy supplies, and transit position, is ready to cooperate in these areas.
Iran's position at the crossroads between East and West creates a significant geographical advantage for connecting transit routes under the Belt and Road Initiative. This, along with Iran's unparalleled stability and security, can serve as an important basis for connecting transportation lines of the Belt and Road Initiative and integrating Iran into this project.
The people of Iran have tasted the bitter experience of attempts to impose peace through power through various sanctions and military aggression over the past years, particularly in recent months. Over the past two decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite acting within its legal rights, has always made every effort to clarify existing ambiguities through dialogue and negotiation. However, in June, we were subjected to aggression while the United States was hypocritically sitting at the negotiating table with Iran. Now, we face threats from European countries to reinstate international sanctions, despite their lack of practical and effective adherence to their commitments, while the most extensive international oversight has been conducted on the nuclear activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, we expect the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and independent countries of the world to play their effective and responsible role against these injustices.
I hereby declare that the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been ready to find a diplomatic solution to peacefully resolve its peaceful nuclear program. The failed military aggression by the United States and the Zionist regime has shown that military options are ineffective and will face the heroic resistance of the Iranian people. Resorting to the so-called snapback mechanism will only complicate the situation further and increase tensions. We advise the United States and Europe to abandon confrontation-based solutions and turn to diplomacy to achieve a balanced and fair solution.
We once again emphasize that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization should pursue peacebuilding initiatives in its surrounding world in a more organized manner. As one of the most important independent and justice-seeking institutions in the world, the organization should particularly have a clear and comprehensive plan for managing the longstanding crisis in the West Asia region and addressing the painful issue of the targeted killing and starvation of innocent people in Gaza and throughout Palestine. What is happening in Gaza today is undoubtedly a stain on the history of humanity and a difficult test for all people and governments witnessing these brutal crimes. It is now clear that no plan for peace and justice in the world will come to fruition without finding a just solution to the Palestinian issue. Our solution has always been the participation of all original inhabitants of Palestine in free elections to realize the right to self-determination as the most fundamental principle of international law.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the government and people of China for successfully hosting this summit and express the Islamic Republic of Iran's support for the constructive views of President Xi Jinping regarding the necessity of reforming global governance, as proposed in the Global Governance Initiative. The Islamic Republic of Iran considers such views a significant step toward achieving a more just world.
IRNA