Rohani: Iran’s Presence In Davos Overshadowed Geneva 2 Conference

Tehran, Jan 25, IRNA – President Hassan Rohani said here Friday upon his arrival back home from Davos World Economic Forum that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s presence in the 48th Davos Forum overshadowed the Geneva II conference on Syria. “Both during the course of the Davos gathering and in the three, or four interviews that we had with Swiss TV, the CNN and the Euronews, the coverage of the news, and generally speaking the developments in Davos, overshadowed the Geneva 2 conference,” said Rohani. He said that on the sidelines of the Davos World Economic Forum there were detailed talks on Syria, arguing that in such conferences the Syrian issue will not be resolved. “I told some European leaders that in case of the Syrian issue the first step is making a collective decision to encounter the terrorism, and to deport the terrorists from Syria,” added the president. Rohani reiterated that the second point is that everyone should decide to assist the Syrian people who are entangled with many problems today, both those who are inside Syria and the Syrian refugees, so that they would manage to achieve better living conditions. The president said that the point is that everyone’s efforts should be aimed at providing an appropriate ground for negotiations between the Syrian opponents and the Syrian government so that they would manage to make decisions about the future of Syria. “If anyone thinks he can make decisions (about the Syrian nation) outside Syria, he is making a mistake. It is the Syrian nation that must decide about its own future. Appropriate conditions for holding a free and fair election in the future need to be provided,” he added. The president also referred to his meetings with the world leaders on the sidelines of the Davos Forum, reiterating that in the course of the negotiations with them, they, too, were agreed with the point that the Syrian crisis could not be resolved through holding such gatherings. About the 48th Davos Economic World Forum, President Rohani said that the theme for the 2014 Davos conference is re-shaping the world and its effects on the society and politics. Referring to the invitation forwarded to Iran for presence in Davos conference, he said, “2,500 world leaders, including economy ministers and top officials of different world countries, too, were invited to the gathering.” He said that Iran was invited to the World Economic Forum to elaborate its viewpoints about the theme of the Forum, under the topic: Iran in the world. “The president participated in that gathering on behalf of the nation to elaborate and explain about the people’s viewpoints.” Rohani also spoke about his four addresses given at Davos. “One of those lectures was at the plenary session of the conference during which it was elaborated that it is not possible to ensure the security of just a limited number of countries in the world, or a certain society.” The head of the prudence and hope government said that security and well-being must be provided for everyone, as this is a grave conflict for the world today, for which ignorance, poverty, and injustice are to be blamed. “Meanwhile, about the question on the type of the interactions that the Islamic Republic of Iran wishes to have with the world, we explained under three topics, a part of which was about the country’s neighbors, meaning that having good relations with our neighbors is a priority for us,” Rohani added. The president referred to the interactions between the regional and the influential countries of the world, saying, “In this respect, we referred to the problem that we have had with the United States, and we still have with that country, as well as the nuclear issue and the way that the unjust structure of the sanctions need to be collapsed.” According to Rohani, both in the Forum and on its sidelines it was felt that the entire top economic leaders of the world are looking for new opportunities for presence in Iran, which has huge potentials. He said that in different opportunities explanations on the future of the Iranian economy were presented, adding that the objective is 110 billion dollars of investments in Iranian oil and gas industries. “We are also in need of Dlrs 75b investment in our petrochemical industries and a 32 billion dollar investment in our railway and other economic sectors, such as mining and tourism,” he said. The head of the 11th government kept on elaborating on the objectives of his visit of the Swiss snowy city of Davos. “In another address and among the top economic leaders of the world I elaborated about the possibility of making joint investments in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the existing capacities and potentials.” Rohani also spoke about another address presented among the manages of top oil companies. He said, “The oil minister, too, spoke with those managers, while the presence of the whole oil cartels in that meeting revealed their enthusiasm for working with Iran.” The president said that he had also had a meeting with the top media chiefs of the world, reiterating, “Some 50 top media editors were present in that meeting, in which he both gave an address, and answered their questions. Rohani said that all in all the Davos World Economic Forum was an opportunity for elaboration on the façade of the Iranian economy and the economic relations in Iran. He said that the objective was presenting the viewpoints of the Islamic Republic in the conference, and that mission was well accomplished. “Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the Forum and the addresses presented there, there were also meetings with the president of Switzerland, the prime minister of the Netherlands, and the president of the European Union, in which discussions on the future conditions of relations with Europe were held,” he said. President Rohani explained that in those meetings there were detailed talks about relations with Europe, the future of the nuclear negations, which will God willing, lead to achieving a comprehensive last step, and the relations that we must have with the European Union. Rohani also spoke about his meeting with the president of Azerbaijan Republic, saying, “It was decided that the two countries’ relations would get back to intimate relegations’ track and a commission comprised of the representatives of the two countries’ presidents would be established to resolve the remaining issues between the two countries.” Accompanying the Iranian president in his Davos visit there were Oil Minister Bizhan Namdar-Zanganeh, the President’s Special Assistant Hossein Fereydoun, and the Chief of Staff of the President’s Office Mohammad Nahavandian. “The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business,” was the theme of this year’s Davos Forum. Profound political, economic, social and, above all, technological forces are transforming our lives, communities and institutions. Rapidly crossing geographic, gender and generational boundaries, they are shifting power from traditional hierarchies to networked hierarchies. Yet the international community remains focused on crisis rather than strategically driven in the face of the trends, drivers and opportunities pushing global, regional and industry transformation, the Forum’s official website says. “The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business” is therefore the thematic focus of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2014. Our aim is to develop the insights, initiatives and actions necessary to respond to current and emerging challenges./end