In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Mr Chairman, Allow me to begin by thanking you for having convened this meeting.

Undoubtedly, at a time when the international community faces grave threats and challenges, both, at the regional and international levels, the holding of gatherings such as this one help provide a proper forum for dealing with those challenges and threats. Since Sept. 11th 2001, extremism is seen as a burning issue in the West and across the globe.
And it has always been as much a threat to my country as it is to the West.

However, while we have a high stake in defeating extremism, we could not subscribe to certain tactics and means employed to this end. Bare and brutish force may reap some rapid benefits, but in the long run it creates more fertile breeding ground for extremism.

This phenomenon has spread as a response to lack of justice and closure of all avenues for participation. Thus, it can be removed by addressing these root causes that gave rise to it in the first place and not by exacerbating them. Against this backdrop, two conflicting trends are discernable at the present time in the Islamic world: voices of wisdom and moderation in the Islamic world, adhering to and emphasizing on religious values, human dignity and democratic process.
Its prime objective is to strike a balance between Islamic tents and democratic mechanisms.

The extremists, quite to the contrary, not only reject the non-Muslims, despite the explicit Koranic recognition of other religions, but also question even other Islamic sects. They have manipulated, misconstrued, and try to hijack Muslim tenets. The most fundamental way to combat extremism and terrorism that emanates from it is to reinforce and strengthen the voice of Islamic wisdom and democratic process.

Solutions of conflicts and disruptions in the Islamic world can not be achieved through exclusion and negation of Islam; -Iranian experience is a good example- but to include Islam in a democratic and enlightened way. Imposition of secular values, in a forceful way, in Islamic world is not conducive to democratic process. It rather results in dangerous consequences.

It is very unfortunate that the path undertaken since Sept. 11 runs opposite to this requirement. The resort to brutish force, including the invasion of Iraq, has already alienated a great number of Muslims, thus providing a fertile ground for recruitment and material support for terrorist groups.

We believe that the most successful strategy in trying to defeat terrorists is depriving them from their bases and drying out their breeding grounds. The concept of Dialogue among Civilizations provides a more constructive approach to the relation between the Islamic community and the western world.

This concept, put forward by the Iranian President, contends that cultural or religious differences do not justify conflict, but instead can provide grounds for cooperation rooted in a mutual recognition of complementarities.

Mr Chairman, We live in a turbulent region and the task we face in securing our neighborhood is daunting. Conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine are yet to be resolved and the spread of the instability originating from them continue to threaten the region and beyond.

While important milestones in the implementation of the Bon Agreement have successfully been passed in Afghanistan and the Afghan people now enjoy having a Constitution and an elected president, threats to peace in that country are yet to be overcome.

The remnants of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda continue to regroup and conduct acts of subversion, mainly along the Eastern border areas, with a view to undermining the central Government and sowing instability across the country.

On the other hand, and despite the sincere efforts by the Afghan Government, the opium cultivation and drug trafficking continue unabated, which is daunting and could have unsettling effects. These two scourges may disrupt the smooth progress of the reconstruction in Afghanistan.

In our view the most effective way to forestall the acts of subversion and drug-trafficking is to help the Afghans to organize, train and equip their national army and police force. The international community at large, including all Afghanistan`s neighbors, has a high stake in the current trend and needs to protect it at all cost and ensure that it becomes irreversible.

The international assistance in creating new armed and police forces as well as in combating narcotics in Afghanistan and transit countries is essential and indispensable.

As to the situation in Iraq, the former Iraqi regime was a threat as much to the Iraqi people as to Iraq`s neighbors, and as such a destabilizing factor in the region.

Thus, while my Government opposed the invasion of Iraq as a matter of principle, we did not fail to consider the ousting of Saddam Hussein from power to be a welcome development. At the present time, the situation in Iraq runs through a sensitive and crucial period. The people of Iraq, turning out actively and massively on the Election Day, demonstrated clearly their commitment to the democratic process and their interest in shaping their future and that of a free and independent Iraq.

Here, I wish to reiterate that, in my Government`s view, Iraq belongs to all Iraqis and everybody`s right, majority or minority, should be observed. While inviting the whole Iraqi people and all the groups inside Iraq to safeguard unity and national accord and defend Iraq`s territorial integrity, we put emphasis on the need for all-inclusive participation of all groups in the political process.

The Islamic Republic of Iran congratulates Iraqi people for their elections and is prepared to assist them in reconstruction, economic and political development of their country.

My Government`s policy with regard to Afghanistan and Iraq is guided by the understanding that Iran`s interests are best served by the restoration of peace and stability, the respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the establishment of democratically-elected and representative governments in those two countries.

The affinities between our people and those of Iraq and Afghanistan have deep roots throughout history.
And the continued instability in those two countries constitutes destabilizing factor along our common borders and in the whole region.Thus, we have adopted a forward-looking and constructive policy towards the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Chairman, Despite the fact that Iran never invaded any country in the past two centuries and currently maintains no territorial claim against any of its neighbors, the Iranian people suffered the most from the turbulences in the region in the recent decades.

The invasion of Iran by Saddam`s regime, as well as protracted instability in Afghanistan and its fallouts, including terrorism, drug-trafficking, and influx of refugees, gave rise to a genuine national consensus in Iran that we should continue to be at the forefront of any effort aimed at underpinning peace and stability in the region.

In view of the above and addressing the whole situation in the Persian Gulf region, Iran has proposed, since the mid 1980`s, the establishment of a security and cooperation scheme to ensure security and stability in the region. This idea was later enshrined in Security Council resolution 598, which brought the Iran-Iraq war to an end, but was never implemented.

When Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was brought to an end, the Security Council again underlined the need for a regional security perspective, which again escaped implementation. We believe that it is imperative to use the opportunity created by the removal of a great menace to our region`s security to replace mistrust and arms race with confidence building and transparency and to establish an indigenously-based and internationally guaranteed regional security arrangement under the UN auspices to spare our region from further bloodshed.

Mr Chairman, Given the fact that Iran is the largest and the most populous country in the region, it is clearly in Iran`s interest to discourage an arms race in the region. Furthermore, considering Iran`s huge reconstruction needs and a young population requiring allocation of a large proportion of Iran`s limited resources, a costly arms race is counterproductive and obviously contrary to Iran`s security interests.

The forgoing of the weapons of mass destruction adopted by Tehran is predicated partly on the same logic as well as on the clear understanding that, in the prevailing international climate, developing nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction not only does not enhance Iran`s security, but in fact will prove detrimental to our long term security and prosperity.

This geo-strategic logic prompted Iran to initiate in 1974 the establishment of a nuclear weapon free zone in the Middle East and to rigorously pursue ever since a zone free from all weapons of mass destruction in the region.

The same logic led us to accede to NPT, CWC and BWC, and to sign the CTBT, resulting in the objective fact that Iran is party in good standing to more international disarmament regimes than almost any other country in this region.
We have gone so far a very long way to assure the world of the peaceful nature of our nuclear program.

We signed the most stringent safeguards mechanism, i. e., the Additional Protocol, and implemented it immediately before its ratification. The extent and number of inspections carried out by the IAEA of the Iranian nuclear or non-nuclear sites has had no precedent in the history of the Agency. In spite of our legal right, my Government committed voluntarily itself to suspending uranium enrichment for sometime, despite being an unpopular measure and thus politically incorrect.

Nonetheless, the Iranian Government is fully aware of concerns over its nuclear program and takes questions about it seriously. We have therefore been actively cooperating with the IAEA in a most transparent manner in order to the IAEA would gain a full understanding of all aspects of our nuclear programs. In so doing, the Agency`s inspectors have had unlimited, unhindered and quick access to whatever and wherever on Iranian territory they requested.

We are pleased that our efforts have not been in vain as far as the IAEA is concerned. This Agency in its latest report (GOV/2004/83, 15 November 2004) confirmed that its inspectors had uncovered no evidence of concealed nuclear activities or an atomic weapons program in Iran. The report specifies that: `All the declared material in Iran has been accounted for and therefore such material is not diverted to prohibited activities`.

This report along with the recent agreement we reached with the E3 and the EU, clearly demonstrate Iran`s full commitment to the non-proliferation regime, particularly the NPT.

Mr Chairman, The primary purpose of the agreement we reached with the three european countries; Germany, Great Britain and Franc in last November is to engage in a result-oriented negotiation that would hopefully pave the way for a long lasting mutually beneficial cooperation in political and economic fields.

The agreement, to our mind, is the fruit of four interrelated concepts: Rights, Obligations, Concerns, and Cooperation.
In this agreement, Iran`s right under the NPT has been reiterated.

With regard to its obligations, Iran has committed herself to full and transparent cooperation with the IAEA and voluntarily applies the Additional Protocol in advance of its ratification.

Proceeding from its obligations, Iran has taken many effective measures to address the concerns and perceptions of the outside world.

Concerns root in perceptions while the unhindered and intrusive inspections are reality. This reality and IAEA`s reaffirmation of Iran`s peaceful activity contradicts such perceptions. The Iran`s right which is determined by international treaties should not be violated because of unjustifiable perceptions. Reciprocally, we need now to take some concrete steps in fulfilling Iran`s right in the framework of the NPT as well as promoting cooperation between Iran and the EU.

In the meantime, negotiations with a view to reaching a general agreement on long term arrangements are well underway in the framework of three working groups established by the two sides on nuclear, political and security, and finally cooperation and technology.We believe that with the necessary political will and readiness of the west to invest in mutually beneficial relations, there is every reason for cooperation about the outcome.

Finally, let me conclude by reiterating that Iran has entered into the process of removing any misperception in its relations with the EU with good faith and intends to exhaust it fully. Given the good intention of the both sides, we are consciously hopeful about the outcome of the process. We believe that any interaction between us and the Europeans such as this one could help promote understanding and mutual respect, thus advancing further the process we are engaged in.

Thank you Mr Chairman.