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SARAJEVO, February 11 (FENA) - Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Bosnia and Herzegovina Mahmoud Heidari is convinced that Iran and BiH have huge capacities for a comprehensive development of relations, and that there is political will for the Iranian and BiH officials to put these capacities in operation.
Interviewer: Jelena Marković
However, as the Ambassador pointed out in the interview with FENA, although the visits of business delegations have intensified, the BiH companies have not been sufficiently present on the Iranian market, a country with nearly 80 million inhabitants, being the largest consumer market in the Middle East.
Therefore, he expressed hope that the remaining obstacles to cooperation would be removed, which will lead to a greater presence and activities of BiH and Iranian companies in the markets of the two countries.
“I am sure that, by easing the existing procedures, the Iranian companies and business people will be ready to participate in economic and investment projects in BiH, while BiH with its numerous tourist attractions might become a key destination for thousands of Iranian tourists throughout the year,” said Ambassador Heidari and added that the business people and companies in BiH will always have a partner in the Embassy of Iran for all forms of cooperation.
The Ambassador of Iran stressed the fact that this country was one of the first to recognize the independence of BiH, it stood by the citizens and the government of BiH and provided significant amounts of humanitarian assistance during the war.
He emphasized that culture is another thing that creates a special bond between the two countries. There is a lot of similarities in the cultural and the aspect of the language, the customs and traditions that have connected the peoples of Iran and BiH. This, as he says, confirms the presence of Persian manuscripts in libraries of BiH, the tradition of the studying of Persian language here, as well as the presence of BiH students in Iran.
“Accordingly, the Agreement on cooperation between the two countries in the field of culture, science and research was concluded, and the sister city agreement between the cities of Tehran and Sarajevo is one of the most valuable cultural achievements between the two countries,” said Heidari, and singled out the holding of the Week of Iranian Culture in Sarajevo and Banja Luka, which is a chance to represent a group of Iranian artists from the city of Tabriz who are promoting Iranian art.
The Ambassador of Iran also spoke about the demonstrations against the authorities who shook the country for days, pointing out that the demands of citizens in peaceful protests and assembly is one of the rights of the Iranian people recognized by the constitution of that country.
He recalled that these demonstrations began peacefully in the town of Meshed and that the Iranian media covered them extensively.
“However, after that, some have tried, using online media, web sites and social networks, to expand these demonstrations to other cities and turn them into a state of disorder, destruction of public property and an attack on the police. Unfortunately, in some other cities this is what happened, but, contrary to the exaggeration of certain biased foreign media, the number of participants in such protest was very limited,” Heidari said.
As the ambassador said, after certain reactions from abroad, the people and public opinion of Iran understood which stakeholders were behind the scene, and that their aim was to spread disorder and unrest. Therefore, the citizens of Iran held mass and peaceful demonstrations and expressed their nation-wide opposition to such disruptive events.
All in all, as he concluded, it was necessary to make the distinction between disorder and calling for violence on one side, and the expression of demands through peaceful assembly, legitimately recognized by the Constitution of Iran, on the other.
"In any case, a full-on peace has been established in Iran and it is certain that the conspiracies of some well-known enemies, who have set forth to disturb stability, peace and security in the Islamic Republic of Iran as their goal, will fail," he stressed.
The Iranian Ambassador touched upon another important topic, which is a historic nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, which resulted in lifting of sanctions for Iran in return for limiting the scope of its nuclear program.
Heidari pointed out that this is Agreement is an important international document guaranteed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which means that if someone violates the Nuclear Agreement, it also violates the Security Council Resolution.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, from the very beginning, has been committed to all its obligations, as confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as the most relevant expert institution in this field, therefore, Iran expects others to fulfill their obligations as well.
“However, the behavior of the United States, especially during the term of President Donald Trump, has not been up to the standard. But the other parties in the Nuclear Agreement put emphasis on its continuity,” said the Ambassador, pointing out that Iran, as long as its legitimate interests are secured, will consider itself obliged by the Nuclear Agreement.
On the other hand, he added, denying the interests from the Nuclear Agreement to Iran will give us full discretion to consider other, legitimate options.
"After all, from the viewpoint of Iran, any change in the Nuclear Agreement or the linking of other regional issues or defense capabilities of the country to the Nuclear Agreement is unacceptable and there is no possibility for renegotiating this Agreement," underlined Heidari.
One of the topics discussed was the Islamic Revolution in Iran, which is on the threshold of its 40th anniversary, and Heidari emphasized that it was the one of the utmost people’s revolutions of the 20th century, which did not have exclusively political or economic goals, but was also carried out with a spiritual message. That is why, the messages of the revolution, other than the people of Iran, have attracted millions of other people all over the world.
He pointed out that one of the most important achievements of the Revolution was the realization of the ideal contained in the slogan "Independence, Freedom and the Islamic Republic".
He noted that over the past 40 years, many attempts have been made by the enemies in order to stop the progress of the Revolution, starting with Saddam Hussein's war against Iran, to unjust sanctions and attempts by the media corporations to stir Iranophobia."
“However, Iran is a powerful country with a long history, and the achievements of the Islamic Revolution have been ensured by the high cost and the blood of many martyrs. We are confident that the Islamic Revolution will continue its path forward,” concluded Ambassador Heidari, adding that the Iranian people are glad that in the fight against terrorism and radicalism, especially against the ISIL terrorists, Iran has had a prominent and leadership role at the regional level.
Consequently, according to the recognition of all political experts, if it weren’t for the real and determined struggle of Iran, as the Ambassador pointed out, today, from the aspect of the presence and dominance of terrorism, the situation in Western Asia would be very much different.
(FENA) S. R.
