RNA – After paying his respects at the Holy Shrine of Lady Fatimah al-Ma’sumah, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, held meetings with several prominent religious scholars and authorities in Qom on Thursday, including Grand Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi-Amoli, whom he met at His Eminence’s office at the Esra International Foundation for Revealed Science.
The Iranian top diplomat said the aim of his visit to Qom was to present a report to the senior religious scholars and to receive their opinions on advancing the Islamic Republic’s foreign policies in regard to the latest developments in regard to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Syrian peace talks and the situation facing the Middle East, the process of pursuing the Mina tragedy and the condition of the incident’s missing pilgrims.
Addressing Dr. Zarif, Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli stated that Iran must always be ready for war, but this war is for defensive purposes and not aggressive and added it is to avenge our rights and not to be used for the purposes of invasion.
“Our school of thought commands us to always be ready with a weapon in our hands and to be prepared if someone dares to attack us, but doesn’t permit us to attack others. During the Iran-Iraq War, several small countries supported Saddam, but we did not attack them,” he added.
The revered source of emulation said Iran never sought nuclear weapons because they are prohibited by our religion, reason and by the edicts of our religious authorities. “Iran was looking for peaceful nuclear technology for use in agriculture, medicine and similar fields which preserve the country. Therefore, we keep all of our requirements and we actually did not lose anything,” he said.
Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli emphasized the need for constant vigilance against the enemies, saying that in the Holy Quran, God advised the Prophet Muhammad to be constantly vigilant against his enemies as every day, the enemies were plotting and conspiring against him.
His Eminence said that all officials should be aware that suspicion has no effect and added that Iran is situated in the middle of a minefield and there are always dangers facing our country. “Therefore, our country should be governed with compassion, empathy, dialogue and unity to prevent the greed of our enemies,” he said.
He said that the Iranian authorities should always be grateful for the peoples’ sacrifices, including during the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq War. Also, officials should always be respectful in resolving the country’s affairs and when dealing with other countries.
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