At the 2025 Tehran Dialogue Forum, Kamal Kharrazi, head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, called for a collective push toward a nuclear-free Middle East. “Disarmament must be a shared objective for all regional actors,” he said, noting that Iran has already raised this issue at the UN General Assembly.
Kharrazi emphasized that the era of unipolar dominance is over, and the global shift toward multipolarity underscores the need for regional countries to play a more active role in shaping a new international order. He praised Iranian-Arab dialogue as a rational step toward regional convergence and cooperation in the face of global challenges and external hegemonies.
Highlighting Iran’s outreach, he described the Iranian-Arab talks—now in their fourth round—as essential to addressing regional disputes, especially in the Persian Gulf, Caucasus, and Central Asia. “Each country has its own culture and policies, but dialogue remains the only path forward,” he said, adding that recent discussions in Doha with Al Jazeera’s forum show growing openness across the region.
Kharrazi criticized the current freeze in Iran-EU relations, blaming European alignment with the US and influence from Israel. “We are witnessing a live Holocaust in Gaza,” he said, condemning Western arms sales to Israel as complicity in war crimes.
He also defended Iran’s nuclear program as peaceful and irreversible. “Iran has indigenized its nuclear knowledge,” Kharrazi stated, reaffirming that Iran seeks energy, not weapons, pointing to Ayatollah Khamenei’s fatwa against nuclear arms. However, he warned that Israel’s arsenal might push others to reconsider.
On US talks, he said Washington's willingness to negotiate signals Iran’s strategic weight. “They know Iran won’t bow to threats,” he asserted. He added that diplomacy would only work if sanctions are lifted in exchange for verifiable Iranian cooperation under IAEA safeguards.
Ultimately, Kharrazi concluded, “Regional countries must lead the creation of a fairer global order—built on sovereignty, dialogue, and mutual respect.”
