Iran Now Known as Heavyweight: President Rouhani


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the world has acknowledged Iran as a highly influential country in the international development with a leading role in the region, noting that a landmark nuclear deal on Iran’s nuclear program has reinforced that position.

“The Iranian nation has an influential position in the world public opinion, and today, this position has been further strengthened, and the whole world acknowledges that the Islamic Republic of Iran is an influential country in the international interactions,” President Rouhani said in an address to a gathering of Iranian nationals residing in Italy, held in Rome on Tuesday night.

“It’s impossible to settle the region’s problems without Iran’s presence and role, and this is what the whole big world powers affirm today,” the president added.

He underlined that the international community is impatient to take advantage of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and expand relations with Iran.

President Rouhani reiterated that closer ties with the European countries is high on Iran’s foreign policy agenda, calling on the Iranians all over the globe to help the administration boost economic, scientific and cultural ties with the world in the post-JCPOA era.

Rouhani on Monday arrived in the Italian capital as the first destination of his European tour, which will take him to Paris on Wednesday.

The European visit is Rouhani’s first foreign trip after the recent implementation of the nuclear deal between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), which took effect on January 16.

The JCPOA has terminated all nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, reopened the doors of foreign investment to the country’s market, and prepared the ground for a much-anticipated economic boom.