TEHRAN — Continuing his consultations on the fourth day of his trip to New York, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met with Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations on Thursday.

During the meeting, the president emphasized the importance of the UN’s position in giving nations a role to solve their problems and prevent foreign interference in their internal affairs.

“The United Nations should be the true meaning of the organization of nations, not the organization of powers,” Raisi was quoted as saying to the UN chief, according to president.ir.

The president went on to say that Iran has been a friend of its neighbors in difficult times and referred to Iran's humanitarian move in hosting Afghan immigrants and its serious fight against terrorism as a great danger to the region and the larger world.

Instead, Raisi said, “NATO and the United States have been the source of war, destruction, occupation and killing in our region.” 

Referring to the current crises in some regional countries, the president said solution to all these conflicts lies in national dialogue without foreign interference, noting it is necessary for the UN to play a more serious role against “unilateralist behaviors”.

Emphasizing Iran's support for regional dialogue to resolve issues between countries, Raisi told the UN chief, “If justice and fairness are implemented from this position, you will leave a great name behind in the history of this world organization.”

For his part, Guterres appreciated the continuous actions of Iran in hosting Afghan refugees.

He also praised Iran's role in the Yemeni ceasefire.

The UN chief also touched upon the negotiations to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the 2015 nuclear deal, saying, “The withdrawal of the United States from the nuclear agreement was an unconstructive and very distressing action.”

Guterres also described Iran's initiative to create a framework for regional dialogue as constructive, saying the UN backs it. The world’s chief diplomat also backed Tehran’s position that human rights “should not be used as a tool and pretext for war against countries.” 

The UN secretary general also expressed his displeasure over the failure to suspend sanctions on Iran despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Guterres called Iran a country with an ancient civilization that is an indispensable and undeniable part of today's world.

The UN chief also said Iran’s views regarding solving problems in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Afghanistan by their own people “are reasonable”.