TEHRAN – The Malaysian embassy in Tehran on Wednesday celebrated national Independence Day in a ceremony attended by Iran’s Information and Communications Technology Minister Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi.

During the ceremony, Malaysian Ambassador Datuk Rustam Yahaya said links between the Malay world and Persia started hundreds of years ago.

“Malaysia was fortunate because of the wisdom of the national leadership at that time which secured independence through negotiations and not rebellion and bloodshed,” he said.

The followings is the transcript of his speech:

HE Azari Jahromi,

Esteemed Members of Parliament,

Senior Officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran,

H.E Ambassadors and Head of Missions,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all of you, for joining me and the Malaysian community, in celebrating the 62nd anniversary of Malaysia’s Independence Day. 

Since independence, the Federation of Malaya, and later Malaysia, has witnessed many events and challenges especially being a diverse multi-ethnic, multicultural, multilingual and multi-religious society, with none having a majority. Nobody gave us any hope of surviving our independence, especially at the early stage, let alone to prosper. But prosper we did. 

It was never an easy affair. The challenges were many and everything had to be done from scratch. Malaysia was fortunate because of the wisdom of the national leadership at that time which secured independence through negotiations and not rebellion and bloodshed. 

With our persistent efforts, we have been able to develop our country while preserving our independence. Mostly, based on our willingness to compromise. Due to these continued challenges, we might not be able to achieve our vision of being a fully developed nation by 2020, but we will come very close to it. 

On our relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, although we established diplomatic relations in late 60s, links between the Malay world and Persia started hundreds of years ago. Over 600 Persian words could be found in the Malay language, and still being used today. Our culture are also quite similar and to this date, several cultural events are being celebrated in Malaysia which I believed, originated from Iran. 

Today, Malaysia and the Islamic Republic of Iran continue to cooperate in many areas of common interest under the United Nations, Organization of Islamic Countries, Non-Aligned Movement and the D-8. 

Iran has also continued to be an important trade partner for Malaysia. During the previous round of sanctions period, bilateral trade continued to surpass a billion dollar. Although the current unfair and unjust unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran has been severe, opportunities are abound for bilateral trade to progress and Malaysia will continue to do its best to develop it even further. 

With that, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, may I take this opportunity to wish all of you good health, happiness and prosperity especially to the leaders and the brotherly people of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

MH/PA