{"id":146671,"date":"2015-04-20T17:21:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-20T17:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?guid=bbb4ebc6e31d09309439aac95d059c34"},"modified":"2015-04-20T17:21:00","modified_gmt":"2015-04-20T17:21:00","slug":"iranian-foreign-minister-proposes-regional-peace-and-cooperation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/iranian-foreign-minister-proposes-regional-peace-and-cooperation\/","title":{"rendered":"Iranian Foreign Minister Proposes Regional Peace and Cooperation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\"><b>Iranian Foreign Minister Proposes Regional Peace and Cooperation<\/b><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">by Stephen Lendman<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Times editors are so consistently hostile to Iran in their one-sided support for Israel&#8217;s worst crimes it&#8217;s surprising they gave Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/04\/20\/opinion\/mohammad-javad-zarif-a-message-from-iran.html\"><span style=\"color: #1255cc;\">op-ed space<\/span><\/a>.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">He sent a responsible message from Iran everyone needs to read. He indicated important progress in Lausanne in trying to resolve issues over Tehran&#8217;s well-known peaceful nuclear program.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Suggesting otherwise is red herring cover for Washington&#8217;s real objectives:&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; margin: 0px;\">toppling Iran&#8217;s government;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; margin: 0px;\">replacing it pro-Western stooges subservient to US and Israeli interests;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; margin: 0px;\">giving America another client state;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; margin: 0px;\">eliminating Israel&#8217;s main regional rival;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; margin: 0px;\">controlling Iran&#8217;s vast oil and gas resources;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; margin: 0px;\">exploiting its people; and<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; margin: 0px;\">marginalizing and weakening Iran &#8211; defying it the right to self-defense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Iranians aren&#8217;t about to surrender their sovereign rights. Nor should they. Nor should any nation for any reason.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">It&#8217;s high time the world community no longer tolerates fabricated claims about Tehran&#8217;s nuclear and other activities.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">It&#8217;s time to normalize relations responsibly. It&#8217;s time to break free from hostile US\/Israeli policies.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">It&#8217;s time to realize mutual cooperation matters more than confrontation and destabilizing maliciousness.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Iran is the region&#8217;s leading proponent of peace, stability and mutual cooperation among all nations.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">America, rogue NATO partners, Israel, Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states, and allied despots threaten world peace and security.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Zarif said Iran and P5+1 countries &#8220;agreed on parameters to remove any doubt about the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran\u2019s nuclear program and to lift international sanctions against Iran.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">&#8220;But to seal the anticipated nuclear deal, more political will is required. The Iranian people have shown their resolve by choosing to engage with dignity.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">&#8220;It is time for the United States and its Western allies to make the choice between cooperation and confrontation, between negotiations and grandstanding, and between agreement and coercion.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Vital issues affecting all regional nations need addressing responsibly. Iran is a key Middle East player.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">It needs to be part of resolving ongoing wars, chaos and turmoil. &#8220;(E)ntire countries are being torn to shreds,&#8221; Zarif stressed.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">&#8220;\u2026Iran has weathered the storms of instability caused by this mayhem. But we cannot be indifferent to the unfathomable destruction around us, because chaos does not recognize borders.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Iranian interests and concerns go way beyond nuclear issues, Zarif explained. Good relations with all its neighbors is its top priority, he stressed.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">He calls Iranian foreign policy &#8220;holistic.&#8221; Destructive &#8220;globalization has rendered all alternatives obsolete,&#8221; he said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">One nation&#8217;s interests can&#8217;t be pursued at the expense of others.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">We&#8217;re all part of the same human race. Ongoing events affect everyone &#8211; for better or worse.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">&#8220;Nowhere are these dynamics more evident that in the wider Persian Gulf region,&#8221; Zarif explained.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">World leaders need to address them responsibly &#8211; most of all waging peace, not war.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Iran needs to be included as part &#8220;of a collective forum&#8221; established to help resolve vexing regional issues.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Ending Yemen&#8217;s conflict &#8220;would be a good place to start,&#8221; Zarif said. Iran offered a responsible peace plan. It can work if implemented.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">It calls for &#8220;an immediate cease-fire, humanitarian assistance and facilitation of intra-Yemeni dialogue, leading to the formation of an inclusive, broad-based national unity government,&#8221; Zarif explained.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">More broadly, regional dialogue and engagement &#8220;should be based on recognized principles for shared objectives; notably respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all states; inviolability of international boundaries; noninterference in internal affairs; peaceful settlement of disputes; impermissibility of threat or use of force; and promotion of peace, stability, progress and prosperity in the region.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Mutual cooperation can benefit all regional nations hugely &#8211; far more then endless conflicts against one nation after another without end.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">&#8220;The world cannot afford to continue to avoid addressing the roots of the turmoil in the wider Persian Gulf region,&#8221; Zarif stressed.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">&#8220;This unique opportunity for engagement must not be squandered.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Imagine if US officials, EU ones &nbsp;and Israelis felt the same way. Imagine peace instead of endless wars.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">His new book as editor and contributor is titled &#8220;Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanIII.html<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.<\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;\"><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;\">It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.&nbsp;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div><b>Iranian Foreign Minister Proposes Regional Peace and Cooperation<\/b><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>by Stephen Lendman<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Times editors are so consistently hostile to Iran in their one-sided support for Israel&#8217;s worst crimes it&#8217;s surprising they gave Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/04\/20\/opinion\/mohammad-javad-zarif-a-message-from-iran.html\"><span>op-ed space<\/span><\/a>.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He sent a responsible message from Iran everyone needs to read. He indicated important progress in Lausanne in trying to resolve issues over Tehran&#8217;s well-known peaceful nuclear program.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Suggesting otherwise is red herring cover for Washington&#8217;s real objectives:&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>toppling Iran&#8217;s government;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>replacing it pro-Western stooges subservient to US and Israeli interests;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>giving America another client state;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>eliminating Israel&#8217;s main regional rival;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>controlling Iran&#8217;s vast oil and gas resources;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>exploiting its people; and<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>marginalizing and weakening Iran &#8211; defying it the right to self-defense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Iranians aren&#8217;t about to surrender their sovereign rights. Nor should they. Nor should any nation for any reason.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>It&#8217;s high time the world community no longer tolerates fabricated claims about Tehran&#8217;s nuclear and other activities.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>It&#8217;s time to normalize relations responsibly. It&#8217;s time to break free from hostile US\/Israeli policies.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>It&#8217;s time to realize mutual cooperation matters more than confrontation and destabilizing maliciousness.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Iran is the region&#8217;s leading proponent of peace, stability and mutual cooperation among all nations.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>America, rogue NATO partners, Israel, Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states, and allied despots threaten world peace and security.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Zarif said Iran and P5+1 countries &#8220;agreed on parameters to remove any doubt about the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran&rsquo;s nuclear program and to lift international sanctions against Iran.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;But to seal the anticipated nuclear deal, more political will is required. The Iranian people have shown their resolve by choosing to engage with dignity.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;It is time for the United States and its Western allies to make the choice between cooperation and confrontation, between negotiations and grandstanding, and between agreement and coercion.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Vital issues affecting all regional nations need addressing responsibly. Iran is a key Middle East player.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>It needs to be part of resolving ongoing wars, chaos and turmoil. &#8220;(E)ntire countries are being torn to shreds,&#8221; Zarif stressed.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;&hellip;Iran has weathered the storms of instability caused by this mayhem. But we cannot be indifferent to the unfathomable destruction around us, because chaos does not recognize borders.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Iranian interests and concerns go way beyond nuclear issues, Zarif explained. Good relations with all its neighbors is its top priority, he stressed.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He calls Iranian foreign policy &#8220;holistic.&#8221; Destructive &#8220;globalization has rendered all alternatives obsolete,&#8221; he said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>One nation&#8217;s interests can&#8217;t be pursued at the expense of others.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div>We&#8217;re all part of the same human race. Ongoing events affect everyone &#8211; for better or worse.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;Nowhere are these dynamics more evident that in the wider Persian Gulf region,&#8221; Zarif explained.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>World leaders need to address them responsibly &#8211; most of all waging peace, not war.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Iran needs to be included as part &#8220;of a collective forum&#8221; established to help resolve vexing regional issues.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Ending Yemen&#8217;s conflict &#8220;would be a good place to start,&#8221; Zarif said. Iran offered a responsible peace plan. It can work if implemented.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>It calls for &#8220;an immediate cease-fire, humanitarian assistance and facilitation of intra-Yemeni dialogue, leading to the formation of an inclusive, broad-based national unity government,&#8221; Zarif explained.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>More broadly, regional dialogue and engagement &#8220;should be based on recognized principles for shared objectives; notably respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all states; inviolability of international boundaries; noninterference in internal affairs; peaceful settlement of disputes; impermissibility of threat or use of force; and promotion of peace, stability, progress and prosperity in the region.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Mutual cooperation can benefit all regional nations hugely &#8211; far more then endless conflicts against one nation after another without end.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;The world cannot afford to continue to avoid addressing the roots of the turmoil in the wider Persian Gulf region,&#8221; Zarif stressed.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;This unique opportunity for engagement must not be squandered.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Imagine if US officials, EU ones &nbsp;and Israelis felt the same way. Imagine peace instead of endless wars.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>His new book as editor and contributor is titled &#8220;Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanIII.html<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div>It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.&nbsp;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[461],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-146671","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorials"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}