These remarks target Iran’s ancient history and civilization, Ali Kazemi said on Tuesday, addressing his regular press conference, adding that distorting history, presenting false narratives, and justifying military aggression are among the tactics of cognitive warfare, which Iranians are quite familiar with.
Marco Rubio made despicable and false statements about Iran and its great nation in Greece and made some absurd remarks about a war between Iran and Greece that took place in ancient times, he added.
Addressing the historical and civilizational stature of Iran and Greece, he noted that Greece, the birthplace of great philosophers, philosophy, wisdom, and Western thought, is symbolically significant as the setting for such remarks, demonstrating, as some ancient Greek philosophers observed, just how far power devoid of thought and corrupted by unethical conduct can lead humanity and civilization astray and bring them into disrepute.
Misusing the relations between ancient Iran and Greece in these remarks, despite all the historical ups and downs, is also worthy of reflection, because these relations are part of the shared heritage of human civilization and an opportunity for dialogue, understanding, and mutual respect for civilizations and cultures, not a tool for justifying military aggression, Kazemi stated.
He also stressed that Iran’s history and civilization should not be turned into a tool for political propaganda, adding that Iran is a nation, a civilization, a history, a culture, and a strong national will that cannot be reduced to a few propaganda claims.
One cannot ignore the realities of Iran by labeling and marginalize the firm will of a nation by repeating hostile rhetoric, Kazemi noted.
Criticizing the US Secretary of State’s claims that children are being turned into national heroes and exploited in war, he said it is ironic that the only country that has not accepted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, has no global commitment to children, and whose child killing is witnessed across the world, including in Minab, is lecturing Iranians on children’s rights, when Iranians have honored children since the dawn of history.
In certain Western countries and societies shaped by Western culture, children’s rights are violated in numerous areas, including protection from discrimination, access to education, individual and collective identity, the right to be heard, the best interests of the child, health, and physical integrity, Kazemi said.
Pointing to European officials’ remarks about anti-Semitism in Iran, he said such claims are made while Iran’s history contains numerous pieces of evidence of coexistence and interaction with followers of various religions.
This historical background is reflected in everything from the part Iranians played in saving Jews and the scientific and social presence of Jewish scholars across different eras to the present-day life of Iran’s Jewish community, he said.
Jews in Iran are considered part of the country’s society and enjoy their rights and live with dignity and honor, he emphasized.
The Islamic Republic of Iran opposes Zionism, aggression, murder and plunder, rights violations, and injustice. Islam respects the followers of the Abrahamic religions, and Muslim Iranians also respect the followers of these religions, Kazemi said, reacting to the enemy’s attack on Iran and the targeting of a Jewish synagogue in Tehran.
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