ICRC President: Iran Visit Useful

Tehran, May 10, IRNA - The ICRC has always had very deep ties with Iran and has done a lot of work with Tehran following the Iran-Iraq war, said president of ICRC Peter Maurer recently. In an exclusive interview with the English-language newspaper ˈ Iran Dailyˈ published Saturday, Maurer touched upon issues including the aims of his visit to Tehran and the extent to which he has achieved them, his meetings with Zarif and Farhadi, the quality of Peace Museum, Islam’s contribution to the development of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), implementation of IHL in Iran, favorable cooperation between ICRC and IRCS, the latest condition of the armed conflicts in Syria and the implementation of the Health Care in Danger project. Replying to question on the aim of his visit to Iran, Maurer said that the ICRC has always had very deep relations with Iran. It has done a lot of work with Iran in the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq war. We have worked on the issue of Iranian soldiers missing in action, a project which is not completed yet, and together with Iranian and Iraqi authorities are still working on it. He said he also discussed with authorities the issue of IHL, how to train and to expand training and how to ensure respect for IHL in some of the big crises occurring in regions including Syria, Afghanistan and Central African Republic. This visit was also to further deepen our cooperation with the IRCS with which, since 2012, we have a framework agreement of cooperation. He said he was keen to take stock on this framework agreement, to explore other forms of cooperation and to further increase the cooperation with IRCS. The visit is basically to take stock on where we are in our relationship, to further expand interlocutors, themes and areas of cooperation and to see how we stir our relations. As the president of ICRC it is obvious for me that Iran plays a very critical role in resolving some of the regional conflicts. ICRC has traditionally sought privileged relationships with all those involved in any form of conflict because at the end of the day our work in assisting and protecting people also depends on states supporting our mandate. We have a mandate through the Geneva conventions and then in specific contexts we need supports by states. It is this kind of support that he said, he is looking for in his visit to Tehran. On whether he could reach his goals in this visit, he told the daily that they have made favorable progress with regard to many of them. In terms of the issues of cooperation, he said, he found out that the IRCS is keen to further boost cooperation on health issues. We have already begun cooperation on physical rehabilitation. He said, he believes that there is a mutual interest in having more Iranians working in ICRC operations in some of the critical contexts. We are exploring how this would be best done. We are also interested in the capacities of IRCS for relief, rescue and their logistical capacities. We have already bought a lot of humanitarian goods in Iran. Iran is one of our main providers of humanitarian goods in the region, he said. Therefore, we spend a lot of money in Iran and of course are interested to improve logistics for the conflicts in the region, particularly Afghanistan. Responding to a query on how he evaluates his meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Javad Zarif on Tuesday, Maurer said that they had a good exchange of views on how to multiply interlocutors of ICRC. Traditionally and today, our chief interlocutor is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which is highly welcomed and we appreciate the dialog. But in many other areas of activity, including training and implementation of IHL, we would also appreciate having more sustainable contacts with the Iranian parliament, the Judiciary and the Ministry of Defense. Maurer said he was pleading with Zarif that he hopefully would facilitate our contacts and dialogs with those specialized professionals who would bring the level of Iran’s relationships with the ICRC to the same level that we have with many other countries where our primary interlocutors are always the judiciary, ministry of foreign affairs and ministry of defense. This is because IHL is about the rules of armed conflict. Therefore armed forces first and foremost have to know about those rules. And we are keen to establish these more direct contacts. When asked by the daily whether his talks with Zarif were fruitful, he said Zarif is also a personal good friend because, he added, we have both been posted in our former lives as the permanent representatives of our countries to the United Nations. Since he has come to office, we have had regular contact over the phone in Geneva. It is the first time that he visited Zarif in his office. We have a very friendly and personal relationship, he said, adding that he was very encouraged by the reaction on his proposal to the Foreign Ministry. He said he thinks that both are cognizant that we cannot suddenly increase the speed of establishing a relationship but Maurer says, he thinks ˈwe have a clearer relationship.ˈ He said several potentials exist for increasing cooperation, identifying some of interesting issues. Maurer mentioned two issues of particular importance. The first was that he told Zarif that one area in which ICRC, national societies and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies should be much more active is the issue of migration. Maurer said he knows that migration is an issue that causes a lot of headache to many countries including Iran. Therefore, he said, he offered that he would try to bring together some national societies interested in those issues including ICRC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to have deeper cooperation with Iran on the issue. He said, he thinks Zarif was quite appreciative. Maurer said he is sure Zarif will be helpful in making the right contacts for us. The second was the issue of IHL and Islam. The ICRC is also very interested in the issue. Since ICRC has been increasingly active in the Islamic world, it has studied with Islamic scholars and Islamic academic institutions the contribution that Islam has made to the development of IHL. This is a very important contribution. Over the past years, we have had contacts with important religious leaders and academic institutions. In Iran, we have regular contacts with clergymen in Qom [province]. For instance, he said he was received by Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi. We highlighted and confirmed our interest to have a stronger dialog. The interest is twofold. ICRC has an interest to understand the value bases of the society in which we are working and to show that IHL is not a concept which comes to those conflict regions. It is a value base to which Christianity, Islam and many other religions and cultures have contributed. On the other hand, there is an Iranian interest to defuse these wrong images and perceptions that Islam is about radical people fighting against each other. Maurer said, he and Zarif also decided to share views on the importance of fighting against prejudice and knowing about important legal contributions that the Islamic world made to IHL more in public and pledged to work together more closely on these issues in the future. We also discussed the situations in Syria, Afghanistan and Central African Republic and the possibility of delivering humanitarian assistance in a neutral and impartial way in Syria. As in many other countries, Maurer said that he has also sought Iranˈs support in resolving the crisis in Syria to facilitate ICRC’s work. On his views about his visit to the IRCS’s Peace Museum, Maurer said that he very impressed by the exhibitionˈs quality and museum itself shows that the ICRS has a strong and proud history. He said, he thinks the museum illustrates the strong cooperation ICRS has with the international society. A couple of months ago, ICRC opened a new museum at our headquarters at ICRC in Geneva. He suggested that the two museums can work together and hold joint exhibitions in Tehran and Geneva in the future. On how was his meeting with IRCS’ President Mohammad Farhadi, he said he has a very special relationship with Farhadi. A couple of days after his election, his first visit as IRCS’ president was to Geneva, and Maurer said he was the first to meet him there. Since then we have a very warm and good relationship. The challenge we have is not the vision of having a closer cooperation. Our challenge is to make it happen. Maurer said he and Farhadi both recognize that we have to make effort to expand the two organizations’ cooperation which is not an easy task because our procedures of doing things are different and need a little bit of synchronization. But in terms of the areas on which we want to collaborate with each other including further deepening cooperation on health, relief and rescue, migration issues and participation of Iranians in ICRC operations he fully shares the same views with me. On his views about the implementation of IHL in Iran, Maurer told the daily that there is a broad body of knowledge on IHL in academic circles. Also, he noted that there is interest from the armed forces to have more exchange with regard to IHL. But, currently, Maurer said, it is not really possible to say how broad and deep these sorts of exchanges are going. What we know is that academically and intellectually Iran is certainly a country which has an enormous standing and capacity on knowledge of IHL. It is critically important to ICRC that more people know IHL. We do not want to replace the responsibility of states to educate their armed forces but we are keen to support those efforts and to have standards of training and education applied in all countries including in Iran. In reply to a question on the latest condition of the armed conflicts in Syria, Maurer said, in the view of a president of a humanitarian organization there is too much fighting going on in Syria and too little humanitarian assistance is provided. He said, he is primarily concerned with both of them because IHL is continuously disrespected by the parties in Syria. Both sides in the Syrian conflict do not respect the principles of proportionality and distinction. This means they do target civilian populations instead of protecting them and use their force disproportionately. Therefore, we see bombings in indiscriminate urban areas. We are deeply dissatisfied with being confronted with disrespect of IHL by all parties in Syria. We are also not satisfied with the limited level of access ICRC has into combat zones of Syria and with the assurances that we get from the parties in Syria. Too many requests of ICRC and other humanitarian actors to access civilian populations in Syria are rejected by the one side or the other side. Too little humanitarian aid is coming into Syria, particularly medical assistance. With regard to water, sanitation and food we manage to cover a reasonable crowd of Syrians. They receive humanitarian assistance from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, ICRC and some of the United Nations institutions. But medical assistance is by both sides seen as a strategic issue. We are concerned that for a very long time we have not been able to deliver appropriate medical assistance to Syrians. We are concerned about the health systems which are falling apart and the negative impact this conflict has on the region and beyond. In the past few months, Maurer said he has tried to make the authorities of different countries aware that we need a collective effort to have better conditions for humanitarian assistance. ICRC is keen to have neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian assistance. Evaluating the implementation of the Health Care in Danger project, Maurer said, a couple of weeks ago, we published the latest results of an empirical research in which we studied 1,800 violent events against health care workers or facilities and tried to identify who the victims and perpetrators are and under what conditions are health installations attacked. The statistics indicate that responsibility of the perpetrators is roughly as much as state actors and non-state actors and lower than other actors which may include criminal gangs. The largest portions of victims include patients and medical workers in hospitals. We could also identify the kind of violence which happens such as deliberate killings, threats and kidnappings. At the present moment, we are working on giving political recommendations to countries, national societies, healthcare workers and professionals. We will issue those recommendations during summer. And hopefully then, at the next Red Cross Red Crescent Conference in Geneva next year we will have a political agreement on those recommendations, on which we can then follow up an implementation. This is the sort of trajectory on the healthcare in danger project. We will continue to advocate publically but also to work discreetly on violations against the integrity of health facilities and health workers. Elucidating on the question of the main reasons causing conflicts of any sort in a country, Maurer said, that it is very difficult to reduce a complex problem to one reason. It is really complicated and contextual. In each and every region where a conflict breaks out it might be due to different reasons. Nevertheless, Maurer said, if he had to mention the main reasons that reappear in all contexts independently, ˈI would say they are inequality, exclusion and discrimination. Exclusion from power and exclusion from participation in power sharing in a nation lead normally to the buildup of tension. And at a certain moment this tension unfolds into armed conflict if they are combined with other problems in the society. Inequality is the same. It is just the socio-economic expression of exclusion.ˈ We are also interested in the capacities of IRCS for relief, rescue and their logistical capacities. We have already bought a lot of humanitarian goods in Iran. Iran is one of our main providers of humanitarian goods in the region. Therefore, we spend a lot of money in Iran and of course are interested to improve logistics for the conflicts in the region, particularly Afghanistan. Replying to a question on his meeting with Zarif and whether the talks with Zarif were fruitful, Maurer said, Zarif is a personal good friend because we have both been posted in our former lives as the permanent representatives of our countries to the United Nations. Since he has come to office, we have had regular contact over the phone in Geneva. It is the first time that, he said, he visited him in his office. We have a very friendly and personal relationship. He said he was very encouraged by the reaction on his proposal to the Foreign Ministry. He said, he thinks that both are cognizant that you cannot suddenly increase the speed of establishing a relationship but, he said, he thinks we have a clearer relationship. There are numerous potentials for increasing cooperation, some of which, he says, both have identified some interesting issues. Let me mention two issues of particular importance. The first issue was that I told Zarif that one area in which ICRC, national societies and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies should be much more active is the issue of migration. Migration is an issue that causes a lot of headache to many countries including Iran, he noted. Therefore, Maurer said, he has offered that he would try to bring together some national societies interested in those issues including ICRC and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to have deeper cooperation with Iran on the issue. Maurer noted that Zarif was quite appreciative, expressing hope that he will sure help in making the right contacts for us. The second was the issue of IHL and Islam which Maurer said he found that he is very interested in. ICRC is also very interested in the issue. Since ICRC has been increasingly active in the Islamic world, it has studied with Islamic scholars and Islamic academic institutions the contribution that Islam has made to the development of IHL. This is a very important contribution. Over the past years, we have had contacts with important religious leaders and academic institutions. In Iran, we have regular contacts with clergymen in Qom [province]. For instance, yesterday, I was received by Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi. We highlighted and confirmed our interest to have a stronger dialogue. The interest is twofold. ICRC has an interest to understand the value bases of the society in which we are working and to show that IHL is not a concept which comes to those conflict regions. It is a value base to which Christianity, Islam and many other religions and cultures have contributed. On the other hand, there is an Iranian interest to defuse these wrong images and perceptions that Islam is about radical people fighting against each other. Both Zarif and I, Maurer said, also decided to share our views about the importance of fighting against prejudice and knowing about important legal contributions that the Islamic world made to IHL more in public and pledged to work together more closely on these issues in the future. We also discussed the situations in Syria, Afghanistan and Central African Republic and the possibility of delivering humanitarian assistance in a neutral and impartial way in Syria. As in many other countries, Maurer said he has also sought Iranian support in resolving the crisis in Syria to facilitate ICRC’s work. How do you evaluate the implementation of IHL in Iran? There is a broad body of knowledge on IHL in academic circles. Also I know that there is interest from the armed forces to have more exchange with regard to IHL. For me currently, it is not really possible to say how broad and deep these sorts of exchanges are going. What we know is that academically and intellectually Iran is certainly a country which has an enormous standing and capacity on knowledge of IHL. It is critically important to ICRC that more people know IHL. We do not want to replace the responsibility of states to educate their armed forces but we are keen to support those efforts and to have standards of training and education applied in all countries including in Iran. Would you please brief us on the latest condition of the armed conflicts in Syria? Definitely in the view of a president of a humanitarian organization there is too much fighting going on in Syria and too little humanitarian assistance is provided. I am primarily concerned with both of them because IHL is continuously disrespected by the parties in Syria. The two sides in the Syrian conflict do not respect the principles of proportionality and distinction. This means they do target civilian populations instead of protecting them and use their force disproportionately. Therefore, we see bombings in indiscriminate urban areas. We are deeply dissatisfied with being confronted with disrespect of IHL by all parties in Syria. We are also not satisfied with the limited level of access ICRC has into combat zones of Syria and with the assurances that we get from the parties in Syria. Too many requests of ICRC and other humanitarian actors to access civilian populations in Syria are rejected by the one side or the other side. Too little humanitarian aid is coming into Syria, particularly medical assistance. With regard to water, sanitation and food we manage to cover a reasonable crowd of Syrians. They receive humanitarian assistance from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, ICRC and some of the United Nations institutions. But medical assistance is by both sides seen as a strategic issue. We are concerned that for a very long time we have not been able to deliver appropriate medical assistance to Syrians. We are concerned about the health systems which are falling apart and the negative impact this conflict has on the region and beyond. In the past few months, I have tried to make the authorities of different countries aware that we need a collective effort to have better conditions for humanitarian assistance. ICRC is keen to have neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian assistance. How do you evaluate the implementation of the Health Care in Danger project? A couple of weeks ago, we published the latest results of an empirical research in which we studied 1,800 violent events against health care workers or facilities and tried to identify who the victims and perpetrators are and under what conditions are health installations attacked. The statistics indicate that responsibility of the perpetrators is roughly as much as state actors and non-state actors and lower than other actors which may include criminal gangs. The largest portions of victims include patients and medical workers in hospitals. We could also identify the kind of violence which happens such as deliberate killings, threats and kidnappings. At the present moment, we are working on giving political recommendations to countries, national societies, healthcare workers and professionals. We will issue those recommendations during summer. And hopefully then, at the next Red Cross Red Crescent Conference in Geneva next year we will have a political agreement on those recommendations, on which we can then follow up an implementation. This is the sort of trajectory on the healthcare in danger project. We will continue to advocate publically but also to work discreetly on violations against the integrity of health facilities and health workers. As ICRC’s president, what do you think are the main reasons causing conflicts of any sort in the first place? It is very difficult to reduce a complex problem to one reason. It is really complicated and contextual. In each and every region where a conflict breaks out it might be due to different reasons. Nevertheless, if I had to mention the main reasons that reappear in all contexts independently, I would say they are inequality, exclusion and discrimination. Exclusion from power and exclusion from participation in power sharing in a nation lead normally to the buildup of tension. And at a certain moment this tension unfolds into armed conflict if they are combined with other problems in the society. Inequality is the same. It is just the socio-economic expression of exclusion./end