In an interview with Deutsche Welle news network on Thursday, Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah stated that the visit is especially important as it follows the interim nuclear deal between Iran and the six powers, adding that the visit also coincides with important developments in the region.
The Kuwaiti minister further hailed the foreign policy approach of the administration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, saying the dispatch of Iranian delegations to Persian Gulf Arab littoral states and other parts of the world have had a positive impact.
The Kuwaiti deputy prime minister and foreign minister further noted that the Persian Gulf kingdom seeks to maintain normal relations with Iran, and works to prevent crises and serve the interests of the international community.
Heading a high-ranking political delegation, the Kuwaiti monarch will arrive in Tehran on June 1 at the invitation of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
During his visit, Sheikh Sabah will discuss the latest issues concerning cooperation between Kuwait and Iran with senior Iranian officials.
The Kuwaiti emir’s visit to Iran will be his first trip to the Islamic Republic since he took office in January 2006.
On February 11, Kuwait Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah said his country was keen to further expand “excellent” and “historic” relations with Iran.
Jarallah described the Islamic Republic as a “friendly” and “important” state, which shoulders “big responsibilities” in the Middle East.
“Kuwait is holding consultations and cooperating with Iran in all fields, especially to strengthen security and stability in the region,” he stated.
President Rouhani made the remarks in an address to the opening session of the two-day CICA summit which started here Wednesday morning.
President stressed that cementing economic ties among members of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and making joint investments were most effective ways to promote regional convergence.
He said: “The first step on the road to convergence is to choose issues and actions that can readily be agreed upon, that are, expansion of transit and transport corridors, energy cooperation, direct banking cooperation, water resource management and other economic collaborations.
President Rouhani expressing gratitude to leaders in Turkey for their invaluable efforts during their presidency, he also congratulates China assuming the presidency of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building in Asia, expressed confident that under Presidency of China, CICA will take major steps to promote dialogue and cooperation among member states and will strengthen the deserved role that member states play in reinforcing peace and stability — both regionally and globally.
President also pointed that structural transform of this Conference into an effective organization is a path filled with ups and downs. Nevertheless, it is vital to take initial steps to strengthen interactions with other regional and trans-regional organizations and arrangement in Asia. We in CICA need to promote greater cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, ECO, and with other organizations and regional arrangements.
President further pointing out that in pursuit of common human aspirations, Asia’s ancient human, religious and moral achievements should never be ignored or under estimated ,stated: ‘None of these achievements, I suggest, are permanently immune from the onslaught of self-interest, avarice and immorality pursued by those who seek their self-interests at the expense of others, those whose interest lie in unilateralism, violence and extremism; targeting people’s livelihood by resorting to economic restrictions and unilateral sanctions. Such illegitimate policies seek no goal other than preserving the hegemony of domineering powers.
President stressed: ‘Such approach, if not controlled, would lead to gross violation of human rights, violence, extremism, blind terrorism and destructive confrontation of extremist religious, ethnic and racial identities; creating room for resorting to domination and threats as means of advancing foreign policy.’
Dr.Rouhani said: ‘This notion and the need to protect these achievements, compelled me to table the idea of “World Against Violence and Extremism” in the 68th UNGA to help reach an age in which words have replaced weapons, wisdom has replaced intimidation and security and stability sit in place of destruction and corruption. I am pleased that as cosponsors of the resolution, a large number of CICA members are working to keep Asia – as the cradle of the world’s largest religions and schools of thought – a land in which violence and extremism are abhorred.’
President expressed hope this resolution, which was adopted by consensus, alongside other valued CICA documents, will come to serve as a basis for our future efforts.
In another part of his speech, the president said: ‘Durable peace and security can only be achieved through the promotion of a culture of prudent moderation, tolerance and dialogue. As statesmen and representatives of our nations if we abide by these requirements we can then hope for others to choose this method and set foot on this path. To enhance this culture, the political, religious and social elites — unencumbered by color or allegiance — must be better educated about the rights and dignity of human beings. In this context, CICA can help organize meetings to promote confidence and dialogue on various issues of significance, in its agenda.
Dr. Rouhani outlined bolstering economic ties and joint investment schemes between CICA members can effectively help with regional convergence in a globalized economy, added that Joint economic projects and investment schemes can bolster greater Asian integration.
President then pointing to the need for cooperation and joint action by members of this honorable forum to eradicate the horrendous danger posed by WMDs to peace and human security, stated: ‘As I stated in my statement, delivered on behalf of NAM to the 1st UN High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament, the only way to stop the threat posed by such weapons is their complete destruction. Subsequently, the UNGA adopted a resolution that serves as a roadmap to achieve this goal. It is necessary for member states of this august forum to work closer together and help realize the goals of that resolution and by doing so cement Asia’s role in creating a world free from nuclear weapons.
President reiterated: ‘In this context, based on its defense doctrine and its ethical and religious convictions, the Islamic Republic of Iran opposes nuclear weapons. However, it believes Iran and other countries are entitled to the peaceful use of nuclear technology and by choosing a win-win approach, which is free of excessive demands and threats, ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program can reach a final agreement that guarantees Iran’s nuclear rights and at the same time allays the legitimate concerns of parties to the negotiation.’
President also considering the declaration on the objectives and principles of CICA in mind, pointed to the human tragedy that has unfolded in Syria, said: “The crisis whose flames are stoked by certain regional and international actors who funnel weapons and intelligence to and embolden the extremist groups.
President stressed: ‘Undoubtedly, continued insecurity and instability in that country can spill over the borders and adversely affect CICA members with its terrorist extremism. Establishment of peace and calm in Syria is dependent on creation of the necessary conditions for a national dialogue and understanding between the government of Syria and all relevant groups in the country who are committed to nonviolent methods and seek security and stability for their country.’
In another part of his speech on the Palestine issue, president said: ‘Palestine is another close security concern. To raise the international community’s awareness about the deplorable condition of the Palestinian people, UNGA has named 2014 as the “Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People”. In light of this and in the current year, it behooves this august forum to be more attentive to the plight of Palestinians and the pain and suffering the occupation of their motherland has inflicted on them. The international community must fulfill its responsibility and help restore the rights of Palestinians so that this structural violence is rectified as soon as possible.
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
The 4th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) has been finished with a declaration on cooperation between Member States in order to establish peace, stability and security in Asia.
The effort and cooperation to prevent risks that may affect the region was the main focus of this summit and in this respect, the issues of insecurity and the cultivation and production of drugs in Afghanistan, peace in the Middle East and the fight against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction on the world stage, have also been discussed by members of CICA.
Heads of Member States of the Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) praised the Iranian president’s World against Violence and Extremism (WAVE) proposal and its adoption by the UN General Assembly, they stressed on the supporting and participation of the member states for substantiate of this proposal.
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Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran President Hasan Rouhani and CICA conference in China
Iran president Rouhani and Sri Lankan president meeting in China
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Iran president Rouhani and Sri Lankan president meeting in China
Iran president Rouhani and Sri Lankan president meeting in China
Iran president Rouhani and Sri Lankan president meeting in China
Iran president Rouhani and Sri Lankan president meeting in China
Iran president Rouhani and Sri Lankan president meeting in China
Iran president Rouhani and Sri Lankan president meeting in China
Iran president Rouhani and Sri Lankan president meeting in China
Iran president Rouhani and Sri Lankan president meeting in China
Meeting Iran-sri lankan
Dr.Rouhani confers with Sri Lankan counterpart
President Hassan Rouhani and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday discussed bilateral ties and the latest regional and international developments.
During the meeting held on the sidelines of the 4th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), the two presidents called for promotion of all-out mutual ties.
In the meeting held on the sidelines of the 4th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in China, the two sides voiced readiness to bolster consultations over regional and international issues, and called for reinvigorating mutual cooperation.
Rouhani said the two countries’ relations are growing warmer and more intimate each day, adding that the two states’ reciprocal trust and mutual interests have increased in favor of establishing durable relations.
“Russia is not just a neighboring nation with profound historical and age-old ties with Iran, but expansion of the two countries’ cooperation and partnerships will certainly pave the ground for creating a secure region,” he said.
Rouhani said Iran-Russia cooperation on the establishment of peace in the region in the last few months has been “much effective”.
“Development of relations between Iran and Russia will not just benefit the two countries and nations, but also serve the interests of all the regional nations,” the Iranian president stressed.
Putin, for his part, voiced pleasure in the meeting with his Iranian counterpart, and described Iran and Russia as two neighbors and “reliable partners” with an age-old history of ties.
“The two countries’ stances have been parallel even under the conditions of international crises,” the Russian president added.
Putin said Iran and Russia are working on joint projects, “but there are still some other abundant possibilities and capacities existing on both sides which we should utilize for expanding the (bilateral) relations”.
He said both Iran and Russia are entrusted with a grave responsibility for protecting stability, security and development of the Caspian region, which can be seen as a major and vital agenda of both states.
President Rouhani, at the head of high-ranking delegation, arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday to participate in the fourth summit of CICA.
The fourth CICA summit started work on May 20 and will end on May 21.
China has been elected as the president of the CICA for the period from 2014 to 2016.
The CICA is an international forum for strengthening cooperation to ensure peace, security and stability in Asia.
The idea of the CICA was first announced by President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev at the 47th UN General Assembly session October 5, 1992.
The CICA Summit is held once every four years and CICA foreign ministerial meeting in held once every two years.
The CICA member-states include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine, South Korea, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
The non-member states include Armenia, Bhutan, Brunei, Cyprus, Georgia, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Taiwan, East Timor, Turkmenistan and Yemen.
The observer member-states are Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and the US.
The Arab League and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are also international observer organizations.
Iran and Russian in recent years have doubled their joint efforts to promote their relations in various political, economic, educational, cultural, social and military sectors.
During the meeting the two sides reviewed the good progress that had been made on the seven practical measures that were agreed three months ago.
Iran and the Agency also reached agreement on five additional practical measures to be implemented in the next step.
Iran and the IAEA agreed on the following practical measures to be implemented, pursuant to the Framework for Cooperation, by Iran by 25 August 2014.
1. Exchanging information with the Agency with respect to the allegations related to the initiation of high explosives, including the conduct of large scale high explosives experimentation in Iran.
2. Providing mutually agreed relevant information and explanations related to studies made and/or papers published in Iran in relation to neutron transport and associated modelling and calculations and their alleged application to compressed materials.
3. Providing mutually agreed information and arranging a technical visit to a centrifuge research and development centre.
4. Providing mutually agreed information and managed access to centrifuge assembly workshops, centrifuge rotor production workshops and storage facilities.
5. Concluding the safeguards approach for the IR-40 reactor.
Rouhani was welcomed by Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister, Deputy Shanghai mayor, Chinese Foreign Ministry envoy to the CICA, Chinese new Ambassador to Tehran, Iran’s Ambassador to China Mehdi Safari and Iranian Consuls General in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Leaders of the member states including Iranian president will deliver a lecture to the Summit. Iran Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif, Presidential Advisor and Secretary of the Free Trade Zones’ Coordination Council Akbar Torkan, Minister of Roads and Development Abbas Akhoundi, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, chief of staff of Presidential Office Mohammad Nahavandian and special presidential aide Hossein Fereidoun are accompanying the president. Bilateral meetings with counterparts, meeting with Iranians residing in China, including traders, directors of Iranian companies and Iranian representative offices, and meetings with Chinese elites make up for the agenda of the president.
“The claim by the American paper is completely baseless and is aimed at damaging Iran’s face in Afghanistan,” the spokeswoman said Tuesday afternoon commenting on the WSJ report.
She further lamented that the report “induces a fully inhuman look at the citizens of the friendly and neighboring country of Afghanistan”.
“Afghan officials have also rejected this allegation,” Afkham reminded.
She said the failure of the strategy of launching a Taliban war in Syria has pushed those who had pinned hope on this strategy to resort to promulgating lies and fabrications and provoking the sentiments of the people in Iran’s neighboring country, Afghanistan.
“The report is an insult to the Afghan people and the Wall Street Journal needs to extend its apology to the people of Afghanistan for this insult,” the spokeswoman reiterated.
The WSJ claimed in a report on Friday that Iran has been recruiting thousands of Shiite Afghan refugees to fight in Syria, offering $500 a month and Iranian residency to help the Syrian government beat back rebel forces.
The WSJ report said Spokesman of the Iranian mission at the UN Hamid Babaei, in response to a question by the American paper, has rejected the claim, saying the “allegations that Iran is sending Afghan refugees to Syria as fighters are unfounded”.
“Iranian presence in the country is solely advisory in nature in order to help counter the extremist… al-Qaeda groups from committing more massacre and bloodshed,” Babaei added, according to the paper.
Iranian state and military officials have repeatedly rejected the western governments and media claims that Iran has soldiers in Syria, stressing that the country is only helping Damascus with military advice in compliance with the two states’ defense and security pacts.
The Iranian economy minister, accompanied by his deputy Behrouz Alishiri, is due to address the ECO meeting as chairman of the Council of Ministers.
Tayyebnia will also attend the Seventh Astana Economic Conference to be held in the Kazakh capital on May 20-21.
The Second Conference of Confronting International Financial Crisis is also slated to be held in Astana during the said period.
Senior officials from over 150 countries are in Kazakhstan to attend the Seventh Astana Economic Conference in that country.
Tehran hosted the 21st Meeting of the Council of Minister (COM) of the ECO on November 24-26.
ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, which provides a platform to promote economic, technical and cultural cooperation among member states.
The organization was expanded in 1992 to include seven new members, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Head Ali Akbar Salehi
The system was launched in a ceremony attended by AEOI Head Ali Akbar Salehi in Bonab city, Northwestern Iran, on Tuesday.
Last week, Gholam Hossein Rahimi, the Head of Large-Scale National Plans Center affiliated to the Presidential Office’s Department of Science and Technology, said that the system can be used for preventing the spoilage of agricultural products, sterilization of medical equipment and food, as well as long-term storage of food.
“Another Gamma radiation system is currently under construction by the private sector,” he informed.
Natural sources of gamma rays on Earth include gamma decay from naturally occurring radioisotopes, and secondary radiation from atmospheric interactions with cosmic ray particles. Rare terrestrial natural sources produce gamma rays that are not of a nuclear origin, such as lightning strikes and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes.
Addressing the ceremony today, Salehi referred to the enemies’ efforts to prevent Iran from progressing in the development of its peaceful nuclear program, and said, “Enemies’ pressures against the Islamic Republic are not just for nuclear issues.”
Noting that the enemies are aware that Iran is not seeking to move towards military use of the nuclear technology, he said while the country has not received much support, it has been able to stand against the enemies, specially the US, pressures.
Washington and its western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.
Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions and the western embargos for turning down West’s calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.
Tehran has dismissed West’s demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians’ national resolve to continue the path.
Tehran has repeatedly said that it considers its nuclear case closed as it has come clean of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s questions and suspicions about its past nuclear activities.
