It is the main duty of the Foreign Ministry to take timely and effective measures to foil the plots hatched by enemies aimed at undermining Iran's security and sovereignty or tarnishing its international image. But unfortunately the ministry has often been slow in reacting to anti-Iran plots and propaganda.

In reaction to propaganda and devious schemes against the Islamic Republic, the Foreign Ministry has often issued only tardy statements and stopped short of taking effective measures to thwart the enemies in their anti-Iran plots. In other words, the ministry lacks an effective strategy to protect Iran's image on the international scene.

For instance, the Foreign Ministry has failed to react in an appropriate manner to the baseless claim made by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf. It has also stopped short of reacting firmly to the killing of the Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan at the hands of Stone-Age Taleban militia, the Turkish government's unfriendly and provocative moves against Tehran and hostile stands taken by certain Western countries against Iran in the United Nations.

The Islamic Republic has clearly shown to the world in the past 21 years that it is not vulnerable to intimidation and pressure from arrogant powers, thanks to the strong will, determination and self-sacrifice of the Iranian people. However, the officials should perform their duties to protect the image and interests of this nation and should not give the Iranian people the impression that they are not up to their job.

Furthermore, the Islamic Republic in the past two decades has often been accused of human rights violations, fostering international terrorism and pursuing weapons of mass destruction. These are also some of cases where the Foreign Ministry officials have not acted appropriately to present the facts to the world public and counter the disinformation campaign against this country.

The anti-Iran propaganda is mostly spread by the Zionist circles and the arrogant powers that were thrown out of this country after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and these countries now intend to take their revenge on the Iranian nation by spreading such propaganda. Thus, the Iranian people, who made great sacrifices to topple the pro-West imperial regime and establish a democratic Islamic government, rightly expect the officials of the Foreign Ministry to take effective measures to foil the hostile plots and propaganda and protect the dignity of the nation.