Iran Backs Diplomatic Settlement of Ukraine Crisis
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi expressed Tehran’s support for any diplomatic effort aimed at peacefully settling the conflict in Ukraine.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran supports any effort that would lead to peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine and is ready to play a role to help restore peace in any possible manner,” Raisi said at a cabinet session in Tehran on Sunday.
“Based on the fundamental principles of its foreign policy, the Islamic Republic of Iran opposes both hegemony and submission to hegemony, and gives its backing to the right to all nations to self-determination,” he added.
Raisi said while emphasizing the need to protect territorial integrity and the national sovereignty of all countries, “the Islamic Republic of Iran understands security concerns arising from several decades of NATO’s expansionism.”
“We strongly believe that diplomacy and sincere adherence to international obligations by all parties provide the sole lasting and just way out of the current situation,” he added, Press TV reported.
In a televised speech early on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” aimed at “demilitarization” of the Donetsk and Lugansk Republics in eastern Ukraine, collectively known as Donbass.
The two regions broke away from Ukraine in 2014 after refusing to recognize a Western-backed Ukrainian government that had overthrown a democratically-elected Russia-friendly administration.
Announcing the operation, Putin said the mission was aimed at “defending people who for eight years are suffering persecution and genocide by the Kiev regime.”
The United Nations Refugee Agency says more than 120,000 Ukrainians have left the country since Russia started the military campaign against Ukraine on February 24.