"Every country can play a role": Dy Representative of Iran's Supreme Leader on resolving West Asia conflict

In an interview with ANI, responding to a question on the role of major powers, Ziyaeenia said, "In this conflict, every country can play a role. Every country can play a role, positive or negative."

Mohammad Hossein Ziyaeenia, the Deputy Representative of Iran's Supreme Leader in India, has said that every country can play a role in facilitating an end to hostilies in West Asia. During an interview with ANI, Ziyaeenia framed the current West Asian crisis as a struggle between "oppression" and "self-defence," questioning the global community's priorities in the face of rising human costs.

Responding to a question on the role of major powers, Ziyaeenia said, "In this conflict, every country can play a role. Every country can play a role, positive or negative." Ziyaeenia stated that countries allowing US bases on their soil are playing a "negative role," arguing that such cooperation is ultimately detrimental to their own interests.

"So the countries that are allowing US bases in their territory are playing a negative role. It's not for their good. So we ask every country in the world to come and to play its role to finish this crisis, to finish this oppression, because our nation is oppressed," Ziyaeenia told ANI. He welcomed any nation willing to help "finish this unjust war" and bring permanent peace, emphasising that the "oppressed people of Iran" are the primary victims of foreign aggression.

He said, "Everyone is worried about the price of gas, everyone is worried about the price of oil, but no one is worried about the price of the lives of the people that are getting killed in Iran...So we are welcoming every country that wants to play a role to finish this unjust war against the Islamic Republic of Iran, against the oppressed people of Iran, and to bring permanent peace for the region and to invite and ask these foreign powers to stop this, bloodshed that they have started." Addressing Tehran's recent strikes on neighbouring areas hosting US personnel, Ziyaeenia rejected the label of "aggressor," framing the actions as a fundamental right to self-defence.

"Iran is targeting the invaders on its territory," he said, adding that the US military bases in the region are used to launch attacks against Iran. He asked, "What would be your response if your home was targeted by some bases around you?" He argued that Iran is not attacking its neighbours, but rather the "invaders" using those territories to launch strikes against Iran.

He stated, "This is our true right to defend ourselves. Every country that was in our position, in our shoes, he or she also would you know do the same... Iran is not a country that attack its neighbours. Go and search the history of Iran. Iran and India, these two civilisations, these two nations are not invaders to others." He drew a parallel between the civilisations of Iran and India, noting that neither has a history of invading others.

"We were invaded by foreign powers, and we are responsible for defending our people. This is the first and the most basic right of a nation to defend itself. But according to them (the US and Israel), they say that we have this right to attack you (Iran) and you have this right to accept the oppression, but you don't have the right to resist and stand against us." (ANI)