Think Tank: Rouhani changed world view on Iran

Tehran, Dec 31, IRNA – Head of Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP) said here Tuesday President Hassan Rouhani’s World against Violence and Extremism (WAVE) proposal changed viewpoints about Iran at international scenes. “WAVE proposal, presented by President Rouhani at the UN General Assembly in the year 2013 made the Iranophobia project face defeat and although there are still efforts made by certain individuals to present a deviated image of Iran in the world, the world view has changed in favor of the Iranian nation and government today,” said Professor Heinz Gartner. The OIPP head who was speaking at a panel discussion held at University of Tehran’s Faculty of Political Sciences titled ‘The European Security Strategy’ praised Iran’s stands and practical steps against extremism and terrorism, especially against the ISIS in Iraq and Syria. “The racist criminal acts of the ISIS remind one of the crimes that the Nazis committed during the rule of Adolf Hitler,” he said. Professor Gartner also criticized Turkey and some other regional countries’ initial nurturing of the Daesh (ISIS) and their provision of money, munitions and tactical support for the terrorists, arguing, “The European countries’ ignoring of these facts is all the same more painful.” “Although some European citizens with extremist mentalities might travel to Turkey and join the ISIS there, but the important point is the European governments’ opposite stands regarding the ISIS, which was adopted a bit too late,” he added. The Austrian security affairs analyst said that shape taking of extremist mentalities is quite unrelated to Islam, as the establishment of the terrorist groups is related to the social issues, rather than religions and ideologies. The Austrian political analyst, meanwhile, ruled out the relation between Europe’s rejections of Turkey’s repeated proposals to join the EU with the Islamic faith of the Turkish people. “The main reason for those rejections is that if Ankara will join the EU, due to Turkey high population its political weigh in EU elections will be even more than Germany,” he added. On acceptance of Turkey as a NATO member state, too, he said that at the time that Turkey was accepted as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty the West and Turkey had a shared enemy, called the former Soviet Union./end