Tehran, Iran, July 3
By Mehdi Sepahvand– Trend:
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani called on the neighbouring countries for cooperation in order to have a powerful region.
“Instead of trying to be first power in the region we should make collective effort to have a more powerful region,” Rouhani said.
He made the remarks addressing an international conference on dust storms in Tehran, organized by the UN, Trend's correspondent reported from the event.
“We will not be able to gain benefit by threatening others and if Saudi Arabia or the US think otherwise they are mistaken,” Rouhani said, adding that win-win polices should be carried out for settling the regional issues.
“In this region we are a family and cannot stand apart from each other,” the Iranian president underlined.
He further said that terrorism is waging havoc on regional environment.
Referring to dust storms problem in Iran, Rouhani said that over 80 percent of the storms in the country originate from outside.
International Conference on Combating Sand and Dust Storms started work on July 3 with participation of 43 world countries which have been more affected by the SDS.
Besides Rouhani, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Head of Environment Protection Organization Massoumeh Ebtekar, Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian and a number of lawmakers have taken part in the Tehran international conference being held at the level of ministers and experts for three days.
Additional reporting by Fatih Karimov
Rouhani calls for co-op for powerful region (UPDATE 3)
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani called on the neighbouring countries for cooperation in order to have a powerful region.