AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Qalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, at the 20th Conference of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC) in Baku, referring to the fact that extra-regional forces' bases in West Asia have not only failed to create sustainable security but have also been a source of instability, said, "Sustainable peace is not the product of submission, pressure, and humiliation, but rather the result of authority, dignity, and respect."
The text of Qalibaf's speech at the 20th PUIC session is as follows:
In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Honorable Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Honorable Heads and Representatives of the Parliaments of Islamic Countries
Your Excellency, Mr. Secretary-General
Peace be upon you
At the outset, I thank the nation and the honorable Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States for their worthy hosting of this meeting and for providing the platform for dialogue among Muslim representatives.
I also extend my condolences to the Muslim nations, including the two brotherly nations of Iran and Azerbaijan, and all free people of the world on the occasion of the martyrdom anniversary of the grandson of the Prophet of Islam, Imam Hussain (a.s.). Muharram is a month that teaches us that dignity and honor are never achieved through submission, but rather it is blood that triumphs over the sword, and I hope that by adhering to the luminous path of Imam Hussain (a.s.), our dialogue today will be for the good of the Islamic Ummah.
Honorable Muslim representatives;
The 20th session of the Parliamentary Union of Islamic Countries is being held at a time when the Islamic Republic of Iran has overcome a fierce aggression. The forty-day war of attrition imposed by the United States and the Zionist regime against Iran was a criminal act. In this blatant crime, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution and a number of senior military and political officials, as well as over 3,000 Iranian citizens, most of whom were women and children, were martyred.
More than thirty thousand people were also wounded, and industrial, medical, educational, energy, and transportation infrastructure, as well as thousands of service and residential units in Iran, were targeted.
The courageous resistance of the armed forces and the heroic steadfastness of the people on the streets caused Iran to impose heavy costs on the United States and the fake Israeli regime. This resistance, born of faith, was the factor that frustrated the enemy's achievement of its objectives and compelled it to surrender on the battlefields and at the negotiating table.
This war was not merely a military confrontation; rather, it was an organized effort to change the strategic balances of the region and impose will upon a free nation. The architects of this aggression imagined that through military pressure, blockade, psychological operations, and terrorist acts, they could force the Iranian nation to retreat and rewrite regional equations in their favor. What actually occurred was in complete contradiction to the war planners' calculations.
The Iranian nation demonstrated that the era of imposing will upon independent nations has ended, and you saw how the world admired this endurance and victory.
The Era of Imposing Will Upon Independent Nations Has Ended / The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding Turned into a Declaration of America's Defeat
Although this war imposed heavy costs on our nation, it revealed this fundamental truth: the resistance and steadfastness of the people, as the true power, disrupt the calculations of aggressors even in the most difficult circumstances. Sustainable peace is not the product of submission, pressure, and humiliation, but rather the result of authority, dignity, and respect.
The victory of the Iranian nation conveys this important message to the Muslims of the world that the preservation of independence and national dignity depends on faith in the life-building Islamic teachings. The Quran teaches us neither to oppress nor to accept oppression. The Quran tells us to become as strong as possible. The Quran tells us not to rely on the disbelievers. The Quran tells us to hold fast to the rope of God and not to be divided, and the same Quran tells us that, by God's permission, a small number can overcome great enemies, and it guarantees that if you have true faith in God, you will be victorious, and the Muslim nation of Iran, through its faithful actions, implemented these divine commandments.
Dear colleagues;
The Islamic Republic of Iran, despite all the suffering and losses it endured in the recent imposed war, insists on a fundamental principle, which is the preference of logic over force and the preference of resistance over submission.
Experience has shown that diplomacy will be sustainable and effective when it is based on respect, equality, and recognition of countries' sovereignty, and is backed by popular support. The Islamabad Understanding was also not the result of pressure and coercion, but rather the result of the resistance and authority of the brave Iranian nation; an understanding that showed that dialogue yields results when the other side abandons imposing its will upon a civilized nation and accepts our rights. For this reason, the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding turned into a declaration of America's defeat. The Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes peace; a peace based on the rights of nations, mutual respect, balanced commitments, and legitimate interests. On this basis, we believe that powerful defense, national cohesion, and diplomacy are three complementary pillars, and their intelligent combination guarantees security and stability.
Before others decide about the future of our region based on their self-centered interests, it is the nations and governments of the region themselves who must determine their own destiny.
The policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is based on these fundamental beliefs that regional security must be provided by the countries of the region themselves.
- No country in the region will find its security in the insecurity of others.
- Economy and development in the region must be for all the nations of the region.
- The vast and diverse capacities of the Islamic world, from energy resources and transit corridors to human and scientific capital, must be utilized in the path of sustainable development and prosperity of Muslim nations.
Dear colleagues;
We see the future of the region not in confrontation but in interaction; not in exclusion but in coexistence; not in imported security but in indigenous and shared security. Within this framework, the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to expand its cooperation with all Islamic countries based on the principles of mutual respect, non-interference in internal affairs, good neighborliness, and shared interests.
Iran fully supports any practical initiative for the formation of joint economic, commercial, financial, scientific, and collective security mechanisms.
We have not abandoned our friends and strategic partners in the most difficult and complex circumstances. For us, a ceasefire in Lebanon is as important as a ceasefire in Iran, and the end of the war in Lebanon is as important as the end of the war in Iran, and we believe that stability and authority in any part of the Islamic world will lead to the strengthening of agency, dignity, and stability throughout the entire Islamic Ummah. Within this same framework, we consider the withdrawal of foreign military forces from the region a strategic objective. Experience has shown that extra-regional forces' bases in West Asia have not only failed to create sustainable security but have also been a source of instability.
Honorable representatives of Islamic countries;
The concept of neighborliness requires deep understanding. Neighborliness is not merely a geographical reality; it is also a responsibility. Countries that live in a shared geography are inevitably partners in each other's destiny. Therefore, no policy designed on the basis of eliminating, weakening, or destabilizing neighbors will ultimately lead to sustainable stability for any party.
The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the future of the region will take shape not in exhausting rivalries but in structural cooperation, economic connectivity, infrastructural convergence, and continuous political dialogue.
As I had announced during the recent war based on the opinion of the Supreme Leader, Iran, with the utmost willingness, declares to all Islamic countries, especially the regional countries, particularly the Persian Gulf states, that it is ready for security agreements to be sustained through economic cooperation, so that Islamic lands become secure for all investors and safe against common enemies.
The Islamic Republic of Iran extends its hand of brotherhood and cooperation to all Islamic countries.
Dear colleagues;
One cannot speak of the future of the region and bypass the issue of Palestine. Palestine is not merely a political issue or a diplomatic file.
The experience of the past eighty years has shown that no sustainable security architecture will take shape in West Asia without a just resolution of the Palestine issue. A peace built on injustice will have fragile stability, and a security that ignores part of the region will sooner or later turn into widespread insecurity. From this perspective, defending the legitimate rights of the oppressed Palestinian nation against the daily aggressions of the Zionists is not merely the defense of a historical cause; rather, it is a defense of the logic according to which justice and stability are two sides of the same coin. This is the belief of our martyred Imam and our permanent strategy, that the Palestinian nation, like all nations of the world, has the right to self-determination through a referendum of the original inhabitants of that land, whether Muslim, Christian, or Jewish, and until that time, the resistance of the Palestinian nation is a manifestation of a nation's legitimate defense against occupation.
Thank you for your attention.
**************
End/ 345E
