Speaking in the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Hassan Rouhani expressed happiness over the improvement of security in the region compared to past years, saying “this year, we are witnessing more security than the past years, especially in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and even in northern Africa.”

After 20 years of negotiations, only 30 per cent of the Caspian Sea issues have been solved and negotiations still continue, he added.

Rouhani expressed hope that the people of Yemen soon witness establishment of peace and stability and the aggressors learn that war and aggression are not the way to resolve the problems, but compromise, negotiation, agreement and political solutions.

Regarding Iran-Iraq war era, President Rouhani said “after the Imposed War, the effects of the war are still remaining, and unfortunately, they have not been completely healed even today. We have important legal issues with Iraq that have not been resolved and must be pursued.”

“It’s been over 20 years that negotiations on Caspian Sea issues are running between its five littoral countries. We resolved a part of the issues and a part is still remaining. In some issues, the countries on the north part of the sea could reach an agreement,” continued Rouhani.

He added that “in the southern part of the sea, there are still issues between Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan. We had good agreements with Azerbaijan in this regard, some of which are being implemented, but a part of these issues has not been resolved yet.”

“The conspiracies of the Americans and even NATO was to be present in these waters and deploy their soldiers, frigates, helicopters and bases on the coasts of Caspian Sea. In this agreement, the five countries agreed to ban the presence of foreign vessels in Caspian Sea,” Rouhani said stressing that we had great achievements in national security as the result of the negotiations and agreements.

“After 20 years of negotiation, only 30 per cent of the Caspian Sea issues have been resolved and negotiations still continue,” said the president, adding “we have to continue negotiating because this is the only way. We must resolve the issues with dialogue and negotiation.”

He continued “military and defense power, especially in military war and defending the country, is very important and has an important role. But the defending the country won’t be possible without foreign policy, people’s support, and cultural and economic issues. Powers and capabilities of the country must exercise synergy and stand together to make it happen.”

Rouhani also pointed to the Iran-Iraq war, saying “after the war, we had secret negotiations with an Iraqi official who was close to Saddam Hussein. People didn’t know anything about this, and even today, some may not know what happened in those negotiations. Those negotiations were under the supervision of the Supreme National Security Council and we were continuously guiding the negotiations.”

“The late Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani had a very valuable role in managing the war and the political victory after that; may God rest his soul in peace,” added he.

Rouhani also referred to the economic issues and the market, saying “today, we need calmness in the market. We are in conditions that the enemies want to put pressure on the country and disrupt people’s life, a situation in which the government has a very heavy responsibility. All ministers, vice-presidents and authorities in organs around the country have a heavy responsibility.”

The government should help people and people should help the government, said Rouhani adding “we must join hands and cope with this situation together. We won’t let enemies to bring us to our knees. The enemies will take the wish of defeating Iran to the grave. They cannot defeat the great Iranian nation by illegal, cruel and unlawful pressures.”

Saying that Iran is negotiating with entire world, the President added “in the latest visit to Kazakhstan, we had good negotiations with our neighbouring countries and, at the same time, we are negotiating with Europe and elsewhere in Asia.”

He also said that it was the Americans themselves who disrupted the process of negotiations; “If you wanted to pass through the bridge, why did you destroy it? If you wanted us to meet, why did you destroy the bridge?, he addressed Americans. “You yourself did it. If you want to prove it, you have to rebuild the bridge. Once you rebuild the bridge, meetings will automatically and naturally happen.”