The Speech of H. E. Mr. Mohammad Reza HAJI KARIM JABBARI, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Switzerland

The Speech of H. E. Mr. Mohammad Reza HAJI KARIM JABBARI, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Switzerland, Bern, On the Occasion of the 41st Anniversary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the National Day, 11 February 2020

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

إِنَّ الَّذِینَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَیْهِمُ الْمَلَائِکَةُ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِی کُنْتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ ﴿۳۰﴾ نَحْنُ أَوْلِیَاؤُکُمْ فِی الْحَیَاةِ الدُّنْیَا وَفِی الْآخِرَةِ وَلَکُمْ فِیهَا مَا تَشْتَهِی أَنْفُسُکُمْ وَلَکُمْ فِیهَا مَا تَدَّعُونَ ﴿۳۱﴾ نُزُلًا مِنْ غَفُورٍ رَحِیمٍ ﴿۳۲﴾

In the Name of ALLAH, the Compassionate, the Merciful

 

Indeed, those who have said, "Our Lord is Allah" and then remained on a right course - the angels will descend upon them, [saying], "Do not fear and do not grieve but receive good tidings of Paradise, which you were promised.

We [angels] were your allies in worldly life and [are so] in the Hereafter. And you will have therein whatever your souls desire, and you will have therein whatever you request [or wish]

As accommodation from a [Lord who is] Forgiving and Merciful."

Excellencies,

Dear Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for attending this celebration of the forty first anniversary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, our national day. Imam Khomeini (Peace be upon him) called this day "the day of the victory of blood over the sword". Today, millions of Iranians in 5000 cities, towns and villages have taken to the streets after 41 years to reaffirm their allegiance to the Islamic Republic of Iran and the aspirations of Islamic Revolution. Today on 11 February 2020 Iranians proclaimed to the world that the Islamic Republic of Iran is stronger than ever and continues its right path towards “Independence, Freedom and Islamic Republic.”

 

Merci d'avoir assisté à la célébration du quarante et unième anniversaire de la République islamique d'Iran, notre fête nationale. L'Imam Khomeini (que la paix soit sur lui) a appelé ce jour "le jour de la victoire du sang sur l'épée". Aujourd'hui, des millions d'Iraniens dans 5000 villes et villages sont descendus dans la rue après 41 ans pour réaffirmer leur allégeance à la République Islamique d'Iran et les aspirations de la révolution islamique. Aujourd'hui, le 11 février 2020, les Iraniens ont proclamé au monde que la République Islamique d'Iran est plus forte que jamais et poursuit sa bonne voie vers «l'indépendance, la liberté et la République Islamique».

 

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Over the past few months, Iran, the Persian Gulf region and the world have experienced particular challenges and developments:

- Terrorist attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf,

- Shooting down by the Iranian army of US invading drone,

- The assassination of Martyr Major General Qasem Soleimani, the honorable commander of the Quds Force and the hero of the fight against Daesh in the Middle East and West Asia and, his loyal companions, especially Martyr Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, one of the bravest commanders of Iraqi forces, by the American terrorist army and Trump. And, the participation of tens of millions of Iranians, Iraqis and of other countries in their funeral which was unprecedented in human history,

- The missile attack by the Iranian forces to US military base in Iraq as the exercise of the right to legitimate defence,

- Massive demonstrations by Iraqi people demanding the withdrawal of  foreign troops, especially Americans from their country and the region,

- Tragic death of passengers of a Ukrainian flight in Tehran due to an unfortunate human error which hurt our hearts a few hours after attack to American military base in Iraq,

- The disgraceful so-called "deal of the century" for trampling on and violating the rights of Palestinians by notorious Trump administration  and,

- The tightening of the circle of economic siege of Iran as a symbol of American economic terrorism against other nations.

The Persian Gulf region and West Asia really need to negotiate and find common solutions without foreign intervention. This is the shortest, cheapest and most realistic way to achieve peace, security, economic and social development for all. If we want peace, it must be for all; otherwise, we will end up with insecurity for all. The Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly stated its readiness to establish dialogue and to negotiate at any level without any preconditions with its seven neighbors in the Persian Gulf. After presenting various plans for dialogue and cooperation in the region, Iran has recently offered a new initiative called Hormuz Peace Endeavor-"HOPE" to its neighbors in the Hormuz region. We firmly believe that trying to eliminate others, hegemony, opportunism, propaganda, misinformation and other forms of policies that have been repeatedly tested and thwarted can in no way help bring about peace and security. The only way is to sit together fraternally and honestly around the table and to create new security arrangements with the participation of all countries in the region with equal footing, away from overt, covert, hypocritical and bully intervention of foreign forces.

These bitter and inhumane incidents are clearly the result of Trump’s policies and practices contrary to international law, human values and international norms. The Islamic Republic of Iran has been a victim of US terrorist and inhumane acts from the coup d'état of 28 August 1953 to now 41 years of economic terrorism after the Islamic Revolution. But today the world is well aware that the US is far weaker and the Islamic Republic of Iran is far stronger than it was 41 years ago. Let us not forget the imaginary dreams of John Bolton, the former US security advisor who promised to a few terrorists that Iranians would never see the fortieth anniversary of their revolution and we will celebrate the victory in Tehran very soon.

Let me cite a few examples of the remarkable achievements of the Islamic Republic of Iran over the past 41 years, looking at statistics released by reputable international organizations and institutions. It is noteworthy that these figures indicate Iran's rank and position worldwide, while in most of them it holds the first rank in the region:

 

• Eighteenth in surface area and population
• Fifth in natural resource reserves with more than 7% of mineral resources
• Fourth in fossil fuel reserves
• Second in Energy Development Index
• Thirteenth in Biodiversity
• Seventh in the highest growth rate in tourism due to historical and natural attractions
• *First in the growth of the Human Development Index over the last four decades
• Ninth in the number of books published
• Fifth in the graduates of four fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics
• Life expectancy in 1960 was 45 years and in 2016 was 76 years. Seventh in the growth of life expectancy from 1960 to 2017
• Among the twenty countries with the lowest suicide rates
• The lowest alcohol-related death rate, ranking 183 out of 183
• Among 10 Countries with Lowest Cervical Cancer Mortality
• Ranked fifth to 15th in the production of steel, cement, gypsum, copper, iron, aluminum, zinc, building stones and many other industrial materials
• From fourteenth to sixteenth in automotive production, power generation, communication technology, mobile access, nuclear fuel cycle, biotechnology, nanotechnology, aerospace, satellite manufacturing and satellite launch systems. It is worth mentioning that in 1979 our engineers were not able to repair an airplane and now they are making fighter jets
• Second of the world in Stem Cells
• In the production of products such as carpets, caviar, saffron, pistachio, watermelon, pomegranate, walnut, almond, tomato and many agricultural products Iran is ranking between the first and tenth of the world. Last year, Iran produced nearly 120 million tones of agricultural products and achieved significant self-sufficiency in important crops such as wheat with more than 12 million tones. The country's food security has now reached nearly 90 percent. However, Iran is a dry country and uses modern irrigation methods. In terms of agricultural machinery, Iran is the twenty-second largest country in the world.
• Iran currently produces 97 percent of the needed medicines and exports them to dozens of countries. Among these are the radio-medicines that are exported to several industrialized countries. But the value of important drugs imported into the country is nearly four billion dollars a year.

The volume of our non-oil trade during the last nine month has been around 64 billion dollars. After decades our trade balance is now positive. We are now trying to experience an economy without oil. Pompeo threatened to starve Iranian people which is a crime against humanity. But these achievements clearly show that the so-called US sanctions and the maximum pressure policy have been a total failure and that the Iranian people will continue to resist and will win this cruel war too.

Switzerland is one of the most important trading partners of Iran. We thank Switzerland for its efforts over the past two years to create a food and drug trade channel. Although the true intentions of the United States need to be discussed, this cannot replace the EU's commitments to JCPOA nuclear deal. However, we are appreciative of all the efforts undertaken by the Swiss government to create this new channel. This shows the existence of strong ties between our two governments and our two nations.

Thank you.