TEHRAN- Iran supports the positive positions on regional cooperation and discussion that a number of nations recently endorsed during an Arab League summit in Jedda, Saudi Arabia.

Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, said in a statement on Sunday that Tehran appreciates the positive positions made by a number of regional nations towards the promotion of cooperation and giving priority to dialogue and mutual understanding.

Praising the viewpoints of several attendees at the 32nd Arab League summit, Kanaani expressed confidence that the region will see a new approach based on friendship and the development of cooperation between its members.

“Collective cooperation among the regional countries for constructivism and endogenous security are fundamental components of development of a new order in the region. The Islamic Republic of Iran has always regarded it as a regional necessity,” he noted. 

Nevertheless, Kanaani regretted the unfounded accusations made against Iran in many resolutions passed at the summit.

He pointed out that in its decisions, the Arab League was supposed to refrain from making worn-out accusations and to act in a way that would foster regional peace, stability, and convergence.

Kanaani reaffirmed that Iran owns the three islands in the Persian Gulf—Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb—and emphasized that Iran will do all in its power to protect its territorial sovereignty.

Iran criticizes U.S., European interference in domestic affairs

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson also denounced the American and European authorities’ interference in domestic Iranian matters after the recent execution of three prisoners who had committed terrorist acts in Iran last year.

Slamming the interference by American and European authorities against the Islamic Republic, Kanaani advised Western politicians to pay attention to the voices of their own citizens, civil rights and humanitarian demands rather than meddling in the internal affairs of other countries and projecting a false humanitarian image.

“The widespread violation of the basic rights of the Western citizens, including the right to freedom of speech, the police and the security forces’ resort to excessive violence against protestors in Europe and the U.S., as well as issuing political statements about the internal laws of the other countries clearly demonstrate instrumental use of human rights in order to pursue and fulfill the illegitimate political purposes and interests,” Kanaani added.

He went on to stress, “It is completely absurd that those who have a checkered history of flagrant violations of human rights against other countries, are openly encroaching the rights of their own citizens, have remained silent on the Zionist regime’s crimes and everyday atrocities against the Palestinian nation… comment on the judicial punishment meted out to killers and promoters of violence against the Iranian people’s lives, calm and security.”

The ministry official added, “Europe and the U.S. lack the legal, judicial and moral competence to comment on the judicial and human rights-related issues in the other countries.” 

The remarks by Kanaani came after a number of Western officials claimed worry about the execution of three men in Iran who were convicted of carrying out a deadly terrorist attack on security forces in the city of Isfahan last year during the riots.