Speech by Hanieh Tarkian at the European Conference on Multipolarity, September 4th 2023

I think that first of all we should have a broad picture of what it is happening in the world today: the first thing I would like to point out is that the new multipolar order is already here, we are no longer in transition.

I think there are some important events which made this transition more tangible: in summer 2015 General Soleimani went to Moscow, a few months later, Russia intervened in the fight against terrorism in Syria alongside the legitimate government of Bashar Assad and Resistance forces including Iran and Hezbollah. So I believe that 2014 with the coup d'etat in Ukraine and 2015 with the intervention of Russia in Syria were the years in which the transition from the unipolar order to the multipolar order became more tangible, with Russia and other countries becoming fully aware of the West being unreliable and its policies dangerous. In particular, the twelve and more years of the fight against terrorism, which is supported by Western countries, and on the other side Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia and Lebanon fighting against it, have marked a division in the world, on one side the globalist and warmongering countries and on the other side states that want to safeguard their interests, identity and culture.

So there is an opportunity now to strengthen the multipolar order in which collaboration and dialogue coexist and there is no need to destroy cultural, religious and national identities, as it happened in the unipolar order. If we manage to achieve this real collaboration, not the globalist one, it will be precisely this type of collaboration that will allow us to rediscover our identity, as well as to preserve and strengthen it without feeling the need to destroy the identity of others, and we saw this kind of collaboration in the Middle East with the Resistance forces fighting against terrorism. The globalist and warmongering groups wanted a perpetual state of instability as to allow them to exploit and steal the rich resources of the free peoples of the Middle East. However they have failed in their plan of total conquest of this strategic region, as well as in the total imposition of their interests on the rest of the world.

To complete the realization of the multipolar order it is necessary to unite forces and to do this we should follow the model of the fight against terrorism in the Middle East. The school and example of General Soleimani can be a model for all peoples: the ideological school of Soleimani has managed to unite individuals from different religious traditions and nationalities to fight terrorism and oppose the hegemony of globalist and warmongering groups.

We are no longer in a transition phase, the time has come to completely replace the false pax americana with the real pax multipolaris. However, let us remember that to do this it is necessary not only to join forces, but to rediscover and consolidate our identity traditions, just like in the Middle East, where Muslims and Christians and other groups have united in the fight against terrorism, which is not only military but also ideological.

From an economic point of view the realization of the multipolar order can be achieved by encouraging new economic alliances, and the Shanghai Organization and Brics are examples of this type of international economic groups which are not bound to the American and unipolar order and they are based on specific strategic principles such as respecting the independence, sovereignty and cultural and national identity of other states, not meddling in the internal affairs of other states. The economic cooperation among different states should be such that one of them does not become  completely dependent on the other, as we see nowadays for example in Europe, where the European countries having put sanctions on Russia because the Nato war in Ukraine, they have become completely dependent on the United States.

During the 23rd SCO summit Iranian president Raeesi cautioned against the dominance of the dollar in global exchanges, and stressed that de-dollarization is a pivotal necessity to form a just international system because based on the experience of the past decades, it is now obvious that militarism and the dominance of the dollar form the bases of the Western domination system. Therefore any attempt to shape a fair international system requires the removal of this instrument of dominance in intra-regional relations and to conduct the majority of transactions in national currencies instead of the US dollar. US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen has recently admitted that the role of the dollar as the world reserve currency could diminish due to Washington using its leverage over the global financial system to pursue its geopolitical goals through sanctions.

The dollar’s share in global reserves fell ten times faster last year than over the past two decades, according to reports. The process has accelerated after other countries saw Russia’s US dollar and Euro-denominated assets frozen abroad and Moscow cut from the SWIFT global financial messaging system.

In that summit Raeesi also stated that civilization is the greatest capacity of the SCO member countries to build unity and peace and he stressed the importance of promoting a civilization in this “ancient” continent based on ethics, spirituality, justice, rationality, and respect for human dignity.

“The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is a symbol of this 'great family of civilizations', is now standing in a position that can establish new horizons of regional convergence and security-building cooperation”.

In the same summit Chinese President Xi Jinping has also called for an increase in the use of national currencies in trade between members of the SCO and work on the establishment of an SCO development bank.

Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Zhang Ming described Iran as one of the most influential countries in the region and the world.

Iran has accumulated more than forty years of experience in circumventing US sanctions and for this reason it has been helpful to Russia. In reality, in the new multipolar order, sanctions no longer have the effect they had in the past, and are only to the disadvantage of those who impose them, for example the European countries.

Just to give an example, it is expected that the European economy will represent only 7.4% of the world economy, slightly less than China's 7.5%. This figure pales in comparison to the United States, which accounts for 11% of the global economy. When looking at individual countries, the economic disparity becomes even more pronounced. In addition, the United States has experienced an increase in purchasing power and a decrease in inflation, allowing for a significant reduction of more than 6% in one year and a 2% increase in economic growth. In contrast, Europe has reduced inflation by only 2% on average, with EU economic growth stagnating at 1%. This discrepancy has led to a substantial decrease in the unemployment rate in the United States, which stands below 3%, while the unemployment rate in Europe remains around 8%.

Simply put, Europe is facing considerable economic pressure due to its involvement in the war in Ukraine, particularly in the energy sector, where it has become increasingly dependent on the United States. This dependence has contributed to the economic growth of the United States. Furthermore, Europe's heavy sanctions on Russia, which previously had extensive economic ties to the region, have increased dependence on the US and China. Meanwhile, the United States has been able to invest freely in cutting-edge technology, further moving away from competitors and becoming a global technology leader, while the peoples of Europe find themselves on the front lines of a war wanted by the United States and NATO. The US and NATO will fight this war until the last Ukrainian has been killed and if not stopped the last European.