TEHRAN – President Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raisi wrapped up a trip to New York in which he successfully advanced Iranian diplomacy and broadened Iran’s foreign interactions. 

After a four-day stint in New York, President Raisi left the American megalopolis for the Iranian capital on Friday. During the stint, the president had busy days meeting and talking with world leaders, putting on display Iran’s interactions with the international community. 

The New York visit was another indication that Iran is not isolated and enjoys growing relations with the world. This has also been on full display just before Raisi headed to New York. Before departing for the annual UN General Assembly gathering, Raisi traveled to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for an important summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), in which the process of Iran’s membership in the bloc was initiated. 

“Certainly, with the active and effective presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, this membership will be recorded as one of the most important developments in the history of this organization,” President Raisi said in a speech delivered at the summit.

The president went to New York shortly after visiting Samarkand. In New York, he met many leaders and delivered a strongly-worded speech at the UN General Assembly. 

In his New York meetings, the Iranian president addressed many regional and global issues. He made sure to explain Iran’s positions on many issues, including the Palestinian question and the 2015 nuclear deal. In the speech he delivered at the General Assembly, Raisi reiterated Iran’s longstanding solution to the issue of Palestine. He said this issue can be solved by referring to the votes of the people of Palestine. “The solution to the Palestinian issue is only to refer to the votes of all Palestinians, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, in the form of holding a comprehensive referendum,” he said. 

As regards the nuclear deal, President Raisi made it clear that Iran’s demand regarding guarantees is genuine and the key to reaching an agreement in Vienna. “Iran's negotiation logic based on a fair analysis of developments is only one sentence: "adherence to commitments". Reassuring assurances are not just about preparing for a contingency. We are talking about an experience. We have before us the experience of America's withdrawal from the JCPOA and the delay of the current American government in returning to its commitments for more than a year and a half,” he said. 

In addition, Raisi also addressed the issue of the safeguards probe pursued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In a meeting with American foreign policy think tank experts, he emphasized that from the beginning we declared that we are in favor of negotiations with the aim of reaching a fair and reasonable agreement and not negotiations for the sake of negotiations, according to a readout by the Iranian presidency.

Pointing out that no one has described Iran's demands as unreasonable, President Raisi said, "The next point is, how long are the safeguards issues going to be abused as a pressure lever against Iran? How many cases have been opened in this field and each time it was announced that the claims made in it were not true?”