Zarif was speaking at a gathering of professors of the University of Tehran in which they discussed the root cause of the recent unrest in Iran.
He said, “We have people who resist the wrong word and this is the biggest deterrence.”
The former Iranian foreign minister added that it would also be a big error to think that “we can keep people on our side through using violence.”
Zarif said even God in the Quran tells the Prophet Muhammad that he cannot force people into following him.