TEHRAN (Iran News) The members of the NAM expressed their deep concern regarding the escalation of tensions and the increase in threatening rhetoric in the region, particularly the threat to use force against Iran.

The full text of the statement is as follows:

1. The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) expresses its deep concern over the escalating tensions in the Middle East and the growing use of threatening rhetoric in international relations, particularly threats involving the use of force against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

2. The Movement also rejects the politicization of the fight against terrorism including through the unilateral preparation of lists accusing States and their constitutionally-established institutions of allegedly supporting terrorism.

3. While firmly condemning such pronouncements and conducts, which threaten regional peace and stability and clearly violate the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, the Movement reiterates the need for full respect for the sovereignty, sovereign equality, and territorial integrity of States, as well as the strict obligation of non‑interference in their internal affairs, and emphasizes that all disputes must be resolved through peaceful means in accordance with the UN Charter.

4. The Movement voices grave concerns that any military escalation would carry far-reaching and unpredictable consequences for regional and international peace and security, global economic stability, and energy security, with especially grave effects on developing countries through disruptions to the realization of the right to development.

5. In this regard, the Movement welcomes the resumption of talks between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, and commends the efforts of regional States—particularly the Sultanate of Oman, as host—for facilitating diplomatic solutions and dialogue. “Middle East”

6. Accordingly, the Movement stresses the urgent need to strengthen mutual trust and confidence and calls on all parties to pursue diplomacy as the only viable path to de-escalation. The Movement further urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to refrain from any action—including provocative military deployments or posturing beyond national territory—that could further inflame tensions and undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts.

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The Chinese government in recent decades has tried to improve the economy and to have dominance in the world economy to topple the U.S. from the top spot but Beijing has realized that it would not be possible unless it boosts its political influence along with its economic one and for this reason Beijing has adopted new policies to play more influential roles in the world in terms of politics and in recent months Beijing has become a political game changer and it has acted as a mediator between some countries to improve its political influence.

Since the Middle East is an important and crucial region, Beijing has started its political activities and roles from this region and expanded it to Honduras in recent days. The mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia was an outstanding political initiative of Beijing which stunned the world and China has succeeded in bringing Tehran and Riyadh together while for years the U.S. had failed and Israel had been trying to keep the rift between Tehran and Riyadh.

Now it is reported that China is boosting its relation with Saudi Arabia which was once the close ally of Washington. According to reports, the senior officials of Saudi Arabia and China participated in a two-day Arab-China Business Conference in Riyadh, agreeing to advance ties amid changing regional and global dynamics.

Hosted by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the forum aimed to strengthen trade relations between China and Arab countries and marked another significant step towards the end of American monopoly in the Arab world.

It was described as the largest Arab-Chinese business event with more than 3,000 attendees, including governmental officials, traders, investors, and political and economic experts from China and two dozen Arabian countries, who explored mutually beneficial investment opportunities across key economic sectors.

Held in partnership with the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, the Chinese Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Union of Arab Chambers of Commerce, the 10th Arab-China Business Conference saw officials meeting in different plenary sessions, discussing deals.

The first day of the conference witnessed the signing of 30 investment agreements across various sectors worth $10 billion, including a $5.6 billion agreement between the Kingdom’s Investment Ministry and Human Horizons, a Chinese developer of autonomous driving technologies and manufacturer of electric cars under the HiPhi brand, to establish a joint venture for automotive research, development, manufacturing and sales.

“China is the Arab world’s largest trade partner where the total volume of trade exchange between both sides reached $430 billion in 2022,” Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said at the opening ceremony of the conference.

Chinese business experts said the Arab-China Business Conference will help strengthen economic ties between the world’s second-largest economy and the Arab countries as the world switches from US-dominated unipolar order to multipolar order.

Lin Shunjie, chairman of China International Exhibition Center Group, was quoted as saying that his visit to the Kingdom opened doors of new business opportunities between China and the Arab world, stressing that key strategies should be devised to “encourage Chinese companies to make more investments in the Arab world.”

According to the top Saudi diplomat, China is the largest trading partner for Arab countries, and the volume of trade between the two sides reached over $430bn in 2022, a 31 percent increase from 2021.

Bin Farhan also noted that the theme of the conference “collaborating for prosperity” highlighted the great significance, potential, and common sense that underlies the bilateral investment and trade relations between China and the Arab world.

Rupert Hoogewerf, a researcher who founded the Huron Report, noted that regarding the emergence of new sectors such as renewable energy, fast-growing real estate, and rapid industrialization across the West Asian region, there are huge opportunities for Chinese entrepreneurs.

“There is a lot of ambition to construct new infrastructure here,” he was quoted as saying by Arab News, adding that China has a large number of “young companies that are innovative” and are looking for investment hubs in the region.

On the sidelines of the event, Saudi’s Al-Falih announced his country’s preparedness to serve as China’s gateway to the Arab world as the world’s second-largest economy seeks to elevate trade ties with the region.

Reciprocally, China is in urgent need of energy and resources from Arabian countries in order to continue its economic development. According to official Chinese customs data, China’s crude oil imports from top supplier Saudi Arabia soared 38 percent in April from a year earlier.

These developments, according to experts, have assumed greater significance as the Arab world, which has traditionally served as the bastion of Western powers, is finally coming out of the shadow.

“China’s increases footprints in Arab countries come amid waning American influence in the region and the transition in the world order, which holds a lot of promise for the region and the world,” Hamid Moradi, a regional affairs analyst, told the Press TV website.

He referred to the role played by China in facilitating reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia as proof that China has “shattered the theory of U.S. dominance in the Arab world”.

An article published by the Wilson Center last week pointed to China’s “growing presence in Arab hearts and minds”, saying many Arabs today see China “as a friend”.

It cited a survey from January that said that included 23,000 interviews from respondents in Arab countries and concluded that “China remains more popular than the US”.

“America is history as far as the Arab world is concerned. China has replaced it,” said Moradi.

So we see China has realized it should strengthen its foothold in the Middle East and among countries by boosting its political influence on the countries because the Chinese now know that if they want to become the world power number one, they need political influence and to be a political actor and game changer, and resumption of ties between Tehran and Riyadh shows that China can be a better actor in the world than the U.S. and we will see more coming from China in the future in terms of showing its political influence.

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On Wednesday, Tehran hosted a two-day meeting of intra-Afghan parties for resolving the current clash and dispute in this neighboring state whose insecurity will even affect Iran’s security. The meeting saw different reactions by the friends and foes of the Islamic of Republic as some accused the Islamic Republic of Iran of supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan and is fanning the flame of war but actually the truth is that the Islamic Republic of Iran wants immediate peace and security in Afghanistan because the violence may affect Afghanistan’s neighbors, too.

On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif advised all political sides involved in the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan to end the war as soon as possible and pave the way for the development of the war-ravaged country.

Zarif made the remarks while addressing the final session of intra-Afghan talks hosted in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

“A nation who has been suffering for 40 years has every right to be opposed to war. What I want from you is to take advantage of this opportunity and end the war in Afghanistan as soon as possible to provide the people of Afghanistan with an opportunity for development,” Iran’s top diplomat said.

“The Islamic Republic is always ready to facilitate the continuation of your talks in any way you wish,” Zarif stressed.

Expressing gratitude to both delegations for prioritizing peace and well-being of the Afghan people in the talks, the Iranian foreign minister said, “Showing courage in peace is more important than showing courage in war; because to achieve peace, one must sacrifice and forgive and ignore maximum demands and [instead] heed the demands of the other side, especially in these negotiations where … both sides are brothers and in pursuit of peace and well-being of the Afghan nation.”

At the end of the meeting, the two Afghan delegates issued a joint statement in which they thanked Iran’s efforts to restore peace to Afghanistan.

Moreover, the warring parties described the Tehran meeting as a new opportunity to reinforce the political solution to the Afghan crisis.

The two sides strongly condemned attacks that target people’s homes, government offices, mosques and hospitals as well as the destruction of public institutions, and called for the perpetrators to be punished.

The Afghan government’s delegation was headed by former Vice President of Afghanistan Yunus Qanuni, and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the head of Taliban’s political office in Qatar’s Doha, also led the militant group’s delegation to Tehran.

Iran has on several occasions reaffirmed its support for measures and talks aimed at establishing peace and ending the conflict in war-battered Afghanistan.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has always asked Afghan parties to resolve their problems through dialogue and has urged them not to let the foreigners dictate their own will on their fate.

Foreign forces in Afghanistan through the decades have shown that they do not care about the nation and country and their presence in Afghanistan is just for the sake of their own interest by looting wealth and deploying troops for show of their power in the region.

Only nations and countries can shape their own fates, and aliens are not able to restore peace and unity in the countries, and Afghan warring parties should do the same by relying on their own determination rather than the assistance of the aliens to resolve their differences.

The Islamic Republic of Iran with this wise initiative once again proved the world that the country is really well-wisher of its neighboring states and it will benefit more through peace and security in those countries rather than creating rift among the parties, and it will respect the nations’ choices and this is the right of any nation to choose its own government and rulers and no one is allowed to meddle.

Now it is Afghans’ turn to show unity to resolve this problem in order to save their country from more bloodshed and damage because aliens will make the most of their internal conflicts in any country and they will be the real winners, and Afghans should not play in their game.

The Tehran meeting was a small part of Iran’s well-wishing nature for its neighbors and we hope Afghan groups settle their differences through dialogue rather than firing bullets because war will let foreign forces stay in Afghanistan and the region, while the region does not need the aliens’ assistance and meddling any more.

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Dena is the fourth Jamaran-class destroyer built by the Naval Industries of the Defense Ministry.

The Iranian destroyer – which is named after one of the most famous mountaintops of the country – is equipped with various defense and offense systems, is designed to make long journeys in the oceans, and is capable of detecting, tracking, and hitting various aerial, surface, and submarine targets.

Dena is reported to weigh more than 1300 tons, and is equipped with 4 cruise missiles ready to open fire at any threats. It is also capable of carrying helicopters on its deck.

Shahin, the other new addition to the Iranian naval fleet, is a minesweeper with a length of 33 meters that was developed and built by local Defense Ministry engineers.

The military ship is outfitted with cutting-edge technology that allows it to detect and detonate several types of naval mines.

Iranian military specialists and technicians have made significant progress in recent years in manufacturing a wide spectrum of indigenous weaponry, allowing the armed forces to be self-sufficient in the armaments sphere.

In the inauguration ceremony attended by top military commanders, President Rouhani ordered the Navy to unveil the latest accomplishments.

“The power of Iran and our armed forces is high only for deterrence and defense. We do not intend for war and tension, but will not yield to the invading powers,” he remarked.
He also said that today, the Islamic Republic of Iran is a power that guarantees the security of the region for itself and its neighbors.

“We explicitly declare to our dear neighbors that the power of our armed forces is not against you but also your supporter and protector, as well as for the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and the Iranian army is the defender of its own and regional countries’ independence,” the president added.

Iran has long been the icon of the peace in the region, offering peace initiatives and inviting neighbors and regional countries to sit at the same table to negotiate. Iranian politicians have always believed that tensions in the region can be reduced through dialogue.

Iran’s multilayered strategy shows the complexity of diplomacy in the region. On the one hand, the approach of peace initiatives put forward by the Islamic Republic has earned the country a reputation as a key player in maintaining peace and security in the region. And on the other hand, Iran, a country surrounded by 40 U.S. military bases in the West Asia, needs to boost its defensive abilities to protect itself from the unwanted guests in the region. These unwanted guests have time and again shown that they do not understand diplomacy, and they act barbarically. Iraq and Afghanistan are true examples of the American barbarism.

With Iran enhancing its defensive capabilities, the neighboring countries can also benefit from the advanced defensive equipment the Islamic Republic has.

The West Asia has long suffered from instability and tension, too weak to reform itself. That is when the neighbors come to the rescue. For example, in case of ISIS, Iran helped its neighbor Iraq to retain stability. Iran also helped Syria overthrow ISIS.

A coin has two sides. Iran has offered peace initiatives such as HOPE (Hormuz Peace Endeavor), Regional Dialogue Forum, the 4-point plan to establish peace in Yemen, the 4-point plan to establish peace in Syria, the Palestinian cause, etc. On the other side of the coin, there is Iran’s military power which assures every country in West Asia that there will be a strong help in case an intruding power comes to destabilize.

The recent negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, along with the recent unveilings of the Iranian naval force accomplishments suggest the perfect implementation of this multi-layered strategy of boosting defensive facilities and capabilities, along with shaping dialogue and negotiating with neighboring countries.

This strategy was highlighted on Monday once again by Iranian officials. “Even when Saudi Arabia was not interested in negotiations, we stressed that the dialogue is the best way to resolve the issues,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday – the same day Dena was unveiled – and added that Iran will take the dialogue forward in a noteworthy manner.

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The statement added, “Violent clashes around al-Aqsa Mosque and other parts of the occupied territories during the past days undeniably show the extent of Palestinians’ resistance against the merciless and brutal occupation, constant aggression and expropriation of usurped lands.”

Back on March 6, Ayatollah Sistani expressed his support for Palestinians during a historic meeting with Pope Francis in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas later thanked the revered Iraqi Shia cleric for lending support to the Palestinian cause, and its liberation from Israeli occupation and aggression.

The Israeli military continued its bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip early on Wednesday, targeting several areas in the impoverished coastal enclave.

Health authorities in Gaza said at least 36 Palestinians, including 12 children, were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Strip since late on Monday.

Palestinian resistance fighters have launched hundreds of rockets into Israeli occupied territories in retaliation for the Tel Aviv regime’s bombardments of the Gaza Strip Gaza as well as its brutal crackdown on worshipers at al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem al-Quds.

Tensions have escalated in Jerusalem al-Quds, the occupied West Bank and Gaza throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, amid the planned forced expulsions of dozens of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, where illegal Israeli settlers are looking to take over the properties of Palestinian families.

The violent crackdown by Israeli forces against Palestinians in Jerusalem al-Quds have already sparked global concern that the unrest could spread further.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip during the Six-Day War in 1967. It later had to withdraw from Gaza, but has been occupying the other territories since.

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“This morning at 02:20 [local time] (2320 GMT Friday) Ain al-Asad Air Base was attacked by an unmanned aerial surveillance system. No injuries reported. A hangar was damaged. The attack is under investigation,” Colonel Wayne Marotto, spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, wrote in a post published on his official Twitter page on Saturday.

The Security Media Cell, affiliated with the Iraqi prime minister’s office, also confirmed the attack in a statement.

It said an explosives-laden drone had crashed inside the air base, located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of the capital Baghdad, without causing any damage.

This is while Sabereen News, a Telegram news channel associated with Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units – better known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha’abi – reported that several rockets had hit Ain al-Asad Air base on Saturday morning.

The report added that C-RAM systems as well as Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) missile systems deployed at the base failed to intercept the rockets.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, which is the latest in a series of assaults that have targeted US occupation forces over the past few months.

On Tuesday, the Iraqi army announced in a statement that two rockets had landed inside Ain al-Asad military base, but the attack had caused no casualties. No further information was provided.

The Iraqi al-Ahad television channel said rocket sirens went off at the sprawling installation.

The development came only a day after at least six rockets struck the al-Balad Airbase, which houses US forces as well as warplanes and lies 64 kilometers (40 miles) north of Baghdad.

Last week, an airbase similarly housing the United States-led coalition’s forces at Baghdad International Airport came under rocket fire.

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The Israeli military alleged in a statement that the attempted stabbing occurred at Gush Etzion Junction near the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil, located 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Jerusalem al-Quds, on Sunday morning.

The statement claimed that a 60-year-old resident of the nearby village of Husan  approached a group of soldiers with a knife in her hand and tried to stab the troops.

Israeli troops at the scene then opened fire at the woman and injured her in the leg. No Israeli soldier was injured in the alleged assault.

The suspect was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem al-Quds in critical condition.

The development came only two days after a Palestinian man was shot and wounded near the West Bank settlement of Efrat over an alleged stabbing attack.

According to a statement released by Israeli authorities on Friday, the incident occurred when the suspect attempted to stab a police officer and soldier at Efrat Junction with a “sharp object” clenched in his hand.

The statement said the suspect was “neutralized” before injuring any bystanders at the scene. The condition of the Palestinian man remains unknown.

Many Palestinians have sustained injuries or lost their lives in similar incidents due to allegations that they attempted stabbing or car-ramming attacks.

Israeli troops have on numerous occasions been caught on camera brutally killing Palestinians, with the videos going viral online and sparking international condemnation.

Tel Aviv has been criticized for its extensive use of lethal force and extrajudicial killing of Palestinians who do not pose an immediate threat to its forces or to settlers.

Palestinian territories have been the scene of soaring tensions in the wake of President Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to delay parliamentary polls that were scheduled to take place on May 22.

He announced the postponement late on Thursday, citing Israel’s rejection of allowing elections to be held in occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.Israeli forces have escalated an arrest campaign targeting key figures of Hamas resistance movement in the West Bank in recent months, detaining Mustafa al-Shanar, Adnan Asfour, Khalid al-Hajj, Omar al-Hanbali, Jamal al-Tawil and Khatam al-Qafisheh among others.

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In his first major policy speech on Friday, Austin stressed the need for the US military to move forward a faster and more innovative approach by harnessing emerging technological advancements and computing powers.

“The way we fight the next major war is going to look very different from the way we fought the last ones,” the Pentagon chief said during a trip to the US Pacific Command in Hawaii.

Austin did not mention any specific adversary by name but the impetus behind his speech was clearly a rapidly rising China, which has been increasingly intent on challenging the United States on multiple fronts including in cyberspace.

“Galloping advances in technology mean changes in the work we do to keep the United States secure across all five domains of potential conflict — not just air, land and sea, but also space and cyberspace,” Austin said.

Austin, who rose in the ranks fighting the conventional wars of the Middle East, put forward a competitive new model of deterrence consisting all domains of warfare.

“What we need is the right mix of technology, operational concepts and capabilities — all woven together in a networked way that is so credible, flexible and formidable that it will give any adversary pause,” he said. “We need to create advantages for us and dilemmas for them.”

“We can’t predict the future,” Austin said. “So what we need is the right mix of technology, operational concepts and capabilities – all woven together in a networked way that is so credible, so flexible and so formidable that it will give any adversary pause.”

The remarks come as the United States prepares to withdraw its remaining troops from Afghanistan by September 11 on orders from President Joe Biden, who seeks to score a political win by ending America’s longest war and resetting Pentagon priorities.

Austin acknowledged that he has spent “most of the past two decades executing the last of the old wars,” and said preventing a conflict in the future would mean creating “advantages for us and dilemmas” for the adversaries.

Austin’s speech underscored the fundamental shift in the Pentagon’s thinking from fighting conventional wars in the Middle East to getting ready for a more sophisticated future conflict against China or Russia.

Two weeks ago, the top US spy chief said China posed a great threat to the United States with cyber capabilities that can affect and disrupt the nation’s critical infrastructure.

In testimony before Congress, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said China was “an unparalleled priority for the intelligence community,” accusing Beijing of striving to change global norms through a variety of tactics.

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Persian Gulf National Day marks the anniversary of the expulsion of colonial and foreign forces from the strategic water body in 1622.

The 10th day of Ordibehesht – the second month on the Iranian calendar, which fell on April 30 this year – has been designated as the Persian Gulf National Day to commemorate not only the historical victory of the Iranian forces against the trespassers in the southern waters but also to remind all that the true name of the Persian Gulf will remain so forever.

The Persian Gulf is a strategic waterway with a variety of military and political situations as well as abundant treasuries, but at the same time it is considered as a territorial identity for us Iranians.

The Persian Gulf is of special importance not only in the Middle East and Asia, but also in the world and has been connected with Iranian civilization for several thousand years. That is why the waterway has always been of interest to political, military and economic powers, geologists, archeologists, historiographers and geographers as well.

The Persian Gulf is a semi-enclosed sea between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula that flows through the strait of Hormuz to the Sea of Oman and from there to the Indian Ocean. This water area is located in the south and southwest of Iran neighboring with Khuzestan, Bushehr and part of Hormozgan province. It shares borders with seven countries including United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait with different beach lengths.

Recent archaeological discoveries on both the northern and southern shores of the Persian Gulf prove that this area is one of the most important and perhaps the first centers of human habitation and the cradle and exchange center of many civilizations such as Elamite, Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Madi, Persian, Greek and Islamic.

The importance of the Persian Gulf is such that it is mentioned in inscriptions and historical texts discovered from the first civilizations formed in Mesopotamia to the central plateau of Iran; the importance of sea routes, which became the focus of the rulers of the time due to the insecurity of land routes, along with the important position of trade and commerce, doubled the role and importance of the Persian Gulf in the equations of the rulers of the time.

The southern and northern banks of the Persian Gulf have always been an integral part of Iran in different historical periods, and at various times when the central government’s political control over the banks and coasts of the Persian Gulf weakened, the strengthened indigenous governments on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf got closer to the northern coasts and took control of these areas.

The fake and distorted name that some have made for this important and strategic waterway has no historical roots, since it is just brought up with the support of global arrogance and Zionism referring to the time when the Englishmen have been presenting the sedition of the Arabian and Persian Gulf quoted from an English diplomat since the 19th century onward.

Experts say that all the claims made by the Arab countries about the Persian Gulf do not have any proof and evidence, and most of them try to create an identity for themselves through their wealth in a way that many Arab countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia attribute prominent Iranian Muslim scholars and scientists to themselves.

These countries spend huge amounts of money trying to include the fake name of the Arabian Gulf in books and other historical sources through popular media, and in order to engrave this name in the minds of the audience they hold such events as the Arabian Gulf festivals, competitions and councils, although they are sure that the name is fake.

Due to the historical background of the name of the Persian Gulf, instead of conflict, it can be proved to the countries of the Persian Gulf through cultural activities, friendship and trade relations and displaying evidence and monuments of historical civilization that this important waterway has always been and will remain the Persian Gulf.

Today these countries show their enmity to us through a historical fact that can be specified who is right simply by travelling and cultural connections and scientific excursions.

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