TEHRAN— At the “Makran Shores and Persian Gulf” conference at Shiraz on Wednesday, Assistant and Senior Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi discussed the importance of shaping diplomacy with the East.

“From the point of view of foreign policy, if we look at the East, that is, to India, China, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as Russia, 73% of which is in the Asian region and 27% in the European region, and if we look at our neighbors, using Iran's very high capacity for geopolitical and geographical position for export can be the key to Iran's economic path for exporting Iranian products and also for re-export using the location of Iran's crossing to the north of Iran and even to Europe through the Mediterranean and Asia,” he said. 

The geopolitics professor at Tehran University said that unfortunately, the relations of the region with the Asian continent and Iran's relations with the Asian continent are insignificant. 

He suggested that improving the geopolitical situation of Iran and achieving the first power in the region in West Asia is possible through maritime transit. 

“Of course, all these goals require domestic and foreign investment, and the 25-year cooperation plan is one of those foreign investments,” the major general said.
The former Islamic Revolution Guards Corp commander said that there does not seem to be a region more important on the map than Iran from the geopolitical, geo-economics, and geo-strategic aspects on a regional and global scale. 

Explaining the reasons for the importance of Iran, he added, "The Islamic Republic of Iran is located in Southwest Asia and this region is the link between Asia to Europe and Africa. West Asia enjoys the heartland conditions in the new theories of the present century after the Cold War, and Iran is located in the central core of this heartland region and can be considered as a country with a high proportion in all areas of geopolitics, geo-economics and geoculture.” 

The Senior Advisor to the Leader predicted that at the next turn of the century, Iran could become one of the leading players in the economy of Southwest Asia with a focus on the maritime economy (maritime transport and rail) and based on shared interests with other world, continental and regional powers.

SA/SM