Iran's FM Spokesman: "Let’s get ready for soft war’s peak"

Tehran, June 8, IRNA – Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said here Monday that the soft war can alter minds, so countering it is in need of mighty forces and particular methods.

Ramin Mehmanparast who was speaking at a gathering titled “Public Diplomacy: Means for War and Peace” at the Faculty of Global Studies of Tehran University further reiterated, “The glorious victory of the Islamic Revolution was the harbinger of major changes in international relations.”

Mehmanparast said that under the current world conditions the nations suffer from the lack of incentives, arguing, “The Islamic Republic of Iran plays important roles in entire international affairs and this is a post-Islamic Revolution development.”

The Foreign Ministry spokesman pointing out that Iran has solutions for the entire problems in the world, reiterated, “The major point is that the global structures are in need of drastic change.”

Mehmanparast pointed out that we are now at the peak of the soft war, emphasizing, “The soft war is capable of changing the minds and therefore, resorting to particular methods and taking advantage of expert forces, we need to stay put for countering it in order to embrace victory.”

He said that public diplomacy is a method, adding, “Any country transfers its ideal methods to the others resorting to its public diplomacy.”

Pointing out that the west considers itself the sole player at the international scene today, he said, “They resort to methods aimed at attracting the hearts and the minds of the entire people in the world towards to correctness of their own objectives.”

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the western methods for seizing the minds of the people are exactly their weak point, arguing, “That is exactly where we need to penetrate into their camp and the line through which we need to maneuver.”

Mehmanparast emphasized that a country’s official diplomacy must be in line with its general diplomacy, saying, “The media are among the means for general diplomacy and the media should be activated as tools at scene of general diplomacy, while maximum advantage must be taken of the internal media and the foreign media, too, need to be regarded as opportunities that need to be grasped from within their own space.”

Mehmanparast urged the media to heed the national interests of the country and everyone to have particular goals and to be aware of the roles of one another in country’s general diplomacy.

He added, “Mr. Ahmadinejad is pursuing a very good diplomacy and he is a popular personality abroad.”

The Foreign Ministry spokesman reiterated, “If we would manage to transfer our intentions successfully as the president does, we would also manage to gain the support of the other nations.”

Mehmanparast said, “During the reforms era we used to speak well and we proposed the détente and the dialogue among civilizations issues, but what results did we gain?”

He emphasized, “Today, if you wish to gain your rights you need to be strong and to attract the support of the public opinion both inside and outside the country.”

The Foreign Ministry spokesman referred to the popularity of Ahamdinejad in Asia, in Africa, and in Latin America, saying, “The reason why he is so popular there is that he says what they really like to hear.”

Mehmanparast emphasized, “If we would manage to take optimum advantage of the words that we use, we would also be able to turn the threats into opportunities.”/end