“Without people, we are nothing and with this people we are everything. This is a principle on which the Islamic Republic is based. We could preserve our independence, security, and tranquility through reliance on the people,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a conference dubbed “40 Years of Foreign Policy Since the Islamic Republic,” attended by foreign ambassadors and former Iranian foreign ministers in Tehran on Tuesday afternoon.

Zarif also said that the Iranian government officials should be at the service of the noble people of Iran at the advice of the late Leader of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini.

The foreign minister added that the Iranian foreign policy since the 1979 revolution has been based on two pillars of ‘internalism’ while at the same time ‘externalism.’

He added that internalism in Iran’s foreign policy, which means relying on domestic resources, has roots in Iran’s long history of struggle with foreign intervention in its internal affairs.

The Iranian top diplomat further said that no country has been conspired against as much as Iran, calling on the western countries to give up their policy of putting pressures on the Iranian nation in order to achieve their goals.

Zarif said that the policy of inflicting pressures against Iran will get nowhere as history has shown, adding that putting pressures will not motivate Iran to come to the negotiating table.

The Iranian top diplomat, however, said that Iran will respond positively to calls for talks when it is treated with respect.

He went to note that Iranians seek engagement with outside world, while adding that Iran does not accept foreign domination in the region nor it wants to dominate the region itself.

In a message to a conference named ‘Elaborating Iran’s Foreign Policy towards Neighbors, Focusing on Supreme Leader’s Guidelines’ underway in the northeast city of Mashhad, Zarif highlighted that Ayatollah Khamenei has attached special attention to the importance of neighboring countries in Iran’s foreign policy.

He went on to refer to the part of the Leader’s speech delivered on March 21, 2018, while addressing a large gathering of pilgrims at the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (as) in Mashhad on the occasion of the Persian New Year 1397. Following is the part of the Leader’s speech as translated by the official website of the Leader.

“The vast area of our country and adjacency to international waters is one of the opportunities of this country. We are not using this resource to perfection. One of the two coasts of the Persian Gulf belongs to us. A large part of the Sea of Oman belongs to us. We have many neighbors as well. Fifteen countries are our neighbors, and this is a very important capacity for the country. Our country is located in a very sensitive area in terms of geography. Iran connects the east, the west, the north, and the south; this is very important in terms of geography.”

The Iranian FM stressed in his message that Ayatollah Khamenei’s special attention to neighbors has opened a new chapter both in research and implementation of foreign policy.

He also hoped that the conference can better elaborate the principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s policies’ towards its neighbors and propose appropriate solutions for expansion of regional ties.