Iran’s president says the resilience of independent nations in Latin America and elsewhere has led to an ongoing transformation of the world order and the decline of the United States.
Ebrahim Raeisi made the remarks Wednesday while addressing members of parliament in Nicaragua, the second leg of his three-nation tour of Latin America.
"The domineering powers want to force their selfish interests on the nations, and that's why we should question why America and some Western countries, who pretend to care about human rights, freedom and democracy, don't respect the real votes of the nations in Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Latin America," he said.
They have oppressed the Palestinian people for 70 years and have not allowed democracy to happen in this country, added Raeisi.
He said that in the past, imperialist powers used their armies or their agents to impose their will on other countries, but now they’ve resorted to sanctions to achieve that goal.
The president said that "military occupation, coup and sanctions" are the tools of the regimes against independent nations, adding, "The US and Western countries claim to fight terrorism verbally, but in reality, as they admitted during the US presidential election, they created and supported the Daesh terrorist group."
Pointing to the US crime in assassinating General Qassem Soleimani, a hero of the fight against terrorism, Raeisi said that people of the world reject Washington's false claims of fighting terrorism.
"The current world order is changing and the indicators show that the authority of domineering power and the US is declining and the will of the nations in Latin America and West Asia is rising," he said.
He said that the media empire of the colonial system tries to change the views of nations. "Imperialism tries to affect the influential groups of nations, and the duty of the elites of free societies is to prevent this."
He emphasized Iran's policy of developing relations with independent countries, noting that there are many opportunities for developing relations between Latin American countries, especially Nicaragua and Iran, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is fully ready to share its experiences and capacities with Nicaragua.
Therefore, he stressed, constant communication between independent countries is vital so that they are better protected against imperialist plans and conspiracies.
He also noted that Iran and Nicaragua share a common history of resistance and combat a common enemy, as well as respect for the people’s will and vote.
Raeisi arrived in Nicaragua on Tuesday, heading a high-ranking politico-economic delegation.
President of the Assembly Gustavo Porras Cortés also addressed the meeting before Raeisi, saying the efforts to improve people's welfare, realize freedom, independence, justice, and defense against US imperialism as the commonalities between Iran and Nicaragua.
On the first leg of the trip, Raeisi visited Venezuela, where officials from the two countries signed 25 cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding in various fields, including petrochemicals and oil.
A delegation comprising ministers of foreign affairs, oil, defense, and health is accompanying Raeisi on his first visit to the region, which will also take him to Cuba.