International community needs democracy, Kharrazi says

Tehran, May 19, IRNA – The head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations said on Tuesday that the current multilateralism in international relations is ineffective and the world is in dire need of a 'global democracy' and 'new multilateralism'. Speaking in an online meeting of Leaders for Peace Foundation, Kamal Kharrazi, mentioning the destructive effects of US unilateralism and its intensifying of international challenges and crises, said that unilateralism is 'a deadly poison' for the international community that adds to the complexity of current circumstances in the world. Kharrazi underlined that ineffectiveness of current multilateralism stems from imperialist attitude of the United States government and its attempt to impose its hegemony on other nations. "Weaknesses and unaccountability of the current world order unfolds the necessity of formation of a 'new multilateralism' and designing of a 'new global solidarity' in which all nations, global south in particular, can be heard… in other words, we need a global democracy," the former foreign minister added. He recalled the emphasis by the UN chief and many governments on cessation of conflicts and lifting of sanctions on such countries as Iran in order to let all countries to be able to afford medicine and health equipment to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Urging the US to stop interfering in international organizations like World Health Organization, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, he said that such interference endangers the global south's confidence in these organizations. Kharrazi reminded the IMF's delay under the US pressure to answer Iran's unprecedented request of a $5 billion loan to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Leaders for Peace Foundation held an online conference on Tuesday in which 37 political personalities, including former prime ministers and foreign ministers, spoke after the former French foreign minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin gave the opening speech.