TEHRAN – Former Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday that although Iran has faced significant challenges this year, the country “will remain resilient.”

Zarif made the remarks during the panel “Iran and the Changing Regional Security Environment” at the Doha Forum 2025.

Zarif opened by noting that Iran is experiencing a difficult moment. “We have had many ups and downs in Iran, and today is certainly not one of our ‘ups,’” he said. “Iran has weathered storms for nearly seven thousand years; we have been attacked, we have been occupied, but we have never collapsed. We are still standing, and we will continue to stand.”

Zarif dismissed claims that Iran has become “weak,” arguing instead that Iran’s military and security capabilities remain unrivaled in the region. He said that after U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, Tehran demonstrated its capacity to “inflict serious damage on Israel.”

He went on to say that the evacuation of U.S. military bases ahead of American strikes on Iran was itself evidence of Iran's deterrent power.

He added that it is “in everyone’s interest” to acknowledge this reality and begin cooperating with Iran.

Zarif said Iran has returned to its long-standing strategy of “resistance against the United States,” after a brief period of engagement under the 2015 nuclear deal, the JCPOA, which the U.S. president Donald Trump abandoned in 2018.

“We have gone back to the strategy of resistance — a strategy we know well and perform well,” he said. “It may not be the strategy I would ideally prescribe for Iran, but it is certainly not one in which we are weak. We know how to resist. The two years of the JCPOA were the exception, not resistance.”

Zarif described Israel — not Iran — as the primary threat to regional security, accusing it of expansionist ambitions. “This is the disease of our region,” he said, “a regime that sees itself above the law, above international law, and above humanitarian norms.”

He expressed hope for improved ties between Iran and Arab states, insisting that regional cooperation would benefit all sides. Iran, he said, has paid a heavy price for supporting Palestine and has historically offered more support to Arab countries than others. “Our friends in the region gain everything and lose nothing by cooperating with Iran,” he added, emphasizing that Iran has no territorial claims on its neighbors.

In a separate panel at the Doha Forum, Saeed Khatibzadeh, head of the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), highlighted the shifting landscape of international politics. Speaking during the session “U.S.–China Relations: Managing Opportunities and Risks in a Changing Global Order,” he said the era of unilateral hegemony “has come to an end.”

“No country can ignore China,” he said, describing this not merely as the view of the Global South but as a “deep-rooted reality in mainstream international politics.” He argued that the world is moving from an order defined by law to one increasingly shaped by power.

Khatibzadeh also pointed to China’s mediation in the Iran–Saudi Arabia agreement and its growing role in West Asia as evidence of Beijing’s constructive influence in international affairs.

The 23rd Doha Forum took place in Qatar on 6–7 December 2025. The annual gathering brought together current and former world leaders, policymakers, and experts to discuss major regional and global challenges, including security, economic issues, and technological change.