Pezeshkian at SCO:
Iran eager to find diplomatic solution to nuclear standoff
President puts forth mechanism to reduce impacts of sanctions
Addressing the 25th Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of State in northern China's port city of Tianji on Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian pointed to the decades-long dispute over Iran’s nuclear program with the West, saying that the Islamic Republic has always been and remains ready to find a diplomatic solution for the peaceful settlement of tensions over its peaceful nuclear program.
Pezeshkian said that Europe’s decision to trigger the snapback mechanism will only complicate the situation and increase tensions.
“We advise the United States and Europe to abandon confrontational approaches and turn to diplomacy to achieve a balanced and fair solution," he said.
Referring to US-Israel’s aggression against Iran in June and Europe’s threats to activate the so-called snapback mechanism which would reinstate international sanctions against Iran, Pezeshkian said the US and Israel’s aggression against Iran showed that the military option is ineffective.
The Iranian president also said on Monday that Iran enjoys a unique geographical position in the region, expressing the country’s readiness to improve regional cooperation and provide access to the interested countries.
Pezeshkian said the Iranian port of Chabahar, which has direct access to the Indian Ocean, would soon be connected to Iran's national railway network, which would mark a significant development in linking China, Central Asian countries, and Afghanistan to the Indian Ocean.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as one of the important pillars of the multipolarization of the international system, should take practical, clear, and specific steps in two parallel paths to create a more peaceful world and a world conducive to expanding economic cooperation,” he added.
He proposed the creation of a specialized initiative — the "Accounts and Settlements of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization" — as a practical mechanism to enhance financial cooperation and reduce the impacts of unlawful sanctions on the economic interactions among the member states.
He said the initiative rests on greater use of national currencies in settlements to decrease reliance on the US dollar, the establishment of shared digital infrastructure and the employment of central bank digital currencies to ensure secure and efficient payments and the establishment of a multilateral currency swap fund to assist countries facing sanctions or liquidity shortages.
Iran believes that the SCO's 10-year development strategy will be a historic opportunity for expanding cooperation and investment in the sectors of infrastructure, technology, energy, digital economy, climate and environmental changes, as well as culture and science, Pezeshkian said, expressing Tehran’s readiness to play an active role in this regard.
International crises
Elsewhere in his address, Pezeshkian described the SCO as the symbol of peace in a world that faces several crises.
He said the Israeli-US illegal military aggression against Iran in June, the ongoing massacre of the oppressed people of Gaza and the excessive use of unlawful sanctions against various countries are clear examples of the world's failure to achieve a suitable model for governing the world and stabilizing international peace and security.
He called for the formation of a committee comprising of the SCO foreign ministers to address crises threatening regional peace and security through providing operative proposals for crisis management and due responses to violation of sovereignty of member nations.
Hosted by President Xi Jinping, the SCO summit officially opened in Tianjin on Monday with the participation of heads of state and delegations from across the world.
The two-day summit, which comes as the US has launched a global trade war, aims to set a long-term vision for regional cooperation amid shifting global alliances and growing calls for a new multipolar order.