1. According to the United Nations Charter, the primary responsibility of maintaining peace and security is with the Security Council and this issue has been stressed upon in the NATO statute. Therefore, NATO measures outside this framework and its current efforts for substituting the United Nations are totally illegitimate and unacceptable.
2. As the bearer of Western Liberal Democracy values, NATO’s attempts to change the political, cultural, social and economic patterns in third party countries, contradicts with the existing local and regional structures in those countries and will lead to instability and insecurity. National and regional resistance against this kind of change will cause clash of values and cultural conflict and will eventually result in exacerbating hostility and insecurity.
3. The Islamic Republic of Iran believes injecting disparate models with different political and social contexts in the Central Asia region, Caucasus and the Persian Gulf will not result in anything other than instability and insecurity for the region and the whole world. These models should be stemmed from within the region and derived by the pivotal and effective players of the region itself.
4. The Islamic Republic of Iran considers that artificial manipulation in the regional security systems will cause instability in the region and as a result in the whole international security system. Therefore, the regional security systems should be localized in compliance with the needs of the region and on the basis of strengthening mutual confidence among the countries of the region. By nature, regional systems formed on realities of the region and the genuine role and position of its countries, can contribute to the stability and security of the total international system through establishing connections and cooperation with other regional systems.
5. We believe in the world today, confronting new threats will merely be possible through collective efforts, cooperation and dialogue among the members of the international community. However the components and elements of this collaboration cannot be based upon perceptions, needs, interests, wills and sometimes ambitions of a certain member or a group of members. (The Islamic Republic of Iran appreciates any realistic approach in the west towards the developments and security issues of the region especially the reports of NATO’s parliamentary assembly concerning Iran.)
6. As a premier power in the region, the Islamic Republic of Iran possesses good relations with its neighbors and according to its principled policies to strengthen stability and security in the region, negotiates mutually and multilaterally with the countries of the region and has suggested specific arrangements in this respect. Indeed any process aimed at the interests of the region, derived from, and complying with the needs of the region would be considerable for Iran.
7. The Islamic Republic of Iran warns deviation from the international community’s mission in Afghanistan and NATO measures in this country. Our preventive alerts to our western friends regarding the essence of Taliban and its extremist and adverse objectives were not taken into account in a timely manner until when the 11th September catastrophe happened. In order to resolve the problems of this country, we should turn to the roots. Drugs in Afghanistan – as the West itself admits – is a fertile base for the creation and cultivation of all kinds of threats and a source for nurturing terrorism. However the West unfortunately doesn’t have a clear record in this respect.
8. It was expected that with the collapse of Taliban and beginning of a new era in the political life of Afghanistan, our western friends understand and realize the realities of Afghanistan and consequently try to prevent the repetition of history. Indeed no other means rather than recognizing the realities of Afghanistan will stop history from repeating and solve the problems of this country. In fact the memory of failure and withdrawal of the eastern superpower from the country has not faded out yet. Without this recognition, the prospect of Afghanistan can resemble a whirlpool which is certainly not in anyone’s interest – not us in the region, neither the ones overseas; this may eventually lead to accepting some scenarios in difficult times which result in ruining all the accomplishments made. Phrases and titles such as “Good Taliban” and “Bad Taliban” are artificial and false concepts. In this respect we hope our friendly advices be heard in an appropriate and timely manner.
9. We consider the current turmoil of western arms in Afghanistan an outcome of wrong policies, and we note that projection of this issue on the Islamic Republic of Iran and accusing it in this case will not change the realities neither solve the problems.
10. Terrorism is a fateful phenomenon and poses a threat to all countries. The Islamic Republic of Iran is a direct victim of terrorism in Afghanistan. If there would be any disregard or neglect in the fight against terror, double standards be employed or in any case the fundamental basis and real origins be ignored, every attempt would turn out to be counter-productive and we would be witnessing the spread of terrorism across the whole world. The images of the current situation indicates that self-centered and unilateral interpretations joined with hardware approaches towards terrorism are not effective and it would be necessary for other interpretations and analysis to be heard; in this respect the role and position of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the strategic region of Eurasia, the Persian Gulf and Middle East and their stability and security is nothing to be neglected and ignoring this reality will actually make any equation unrealistic.
