 So ladies and gentlemen It's my honor and pleasure to welcome here on stage His Excellency Dr. Tzarif foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Also, his Excellency dr. Havendian chief of staff of the presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran So both of you won't welcome Excellencies allow me to raise the first question to both of you You are here days after the release of the sanctions in the context of the nuclear agreement So how does it change your country? Maybe from a domestic point of view as well as from a foreign policy point of view and maybe dr. Nahavanyan you would like to start with the domestic consequences. Thank you very much. I Think with all of the excitement in the air about knowing more about Iran after some disconnection of global markets from the realities of Iran The fact that we are seeing Tens of economic delegations business delegations coming to Iran with the same question what after this agreement the immediate Result would be That Iran having access to its own Reserves Having in mind that Iran is one of the Countries with the least of debt and one of the best balances on its International reserves Iran will be able to Finance more of its investment projects by its own capital as well as Welcoming international markets for investing in developmental projects whether it's just national or regional and By that I would like to emphasize that in our Economic vision in the new administration. We think that we have to think and act regionally One of the main emphasis is on Regional development we think that economic prosperity prosperity goes hand-in-hand with security and Fighting violence and extremism and for that purpose we have to create jobs We have to put together our resources For development of the region the prospect according to all studies of independent research centers or international organizations the GDP growth for Iranian economy just This year 2016 and coming years will be more than average for global growth rate It is predicted at least five percent Domestically the five-year plan which is going to Pass through our parliament in coming months. It's aiming For eight percent growth rate on average So there is an ambitious plan for investment the business environment internally has improved Great deal our Ranking in Business environment has improved more than 25 Points That shows that the commitment of the new administration in improving business environment has been put in place When the new administration took office The economy was suffering from negative six point eight percent In growth rate During sanction years Sanctions have been lifted only two days now during those sanction years the new administration Managed to take the economy from negative growth rate to positive one last year We experienced three percent positive growth rate and at the same time We were able to bring down inflation From more than thirty five percent to thirteen percent now That shows the direction and the vision and the thinking of the new administration Regarding the economy we think that with the same Philosophy and thinking of looking for win-win solutions in our international politics and the negotiations that dr. Zareef is responsible and he will talk about in Economic ties also will look for win-win solutions. Thank you. There was an excellent handover to dr. Zareef But thank you very much and a very good afternoon to all of you I think there are two messages one global and one regional global messages that diplomacy works And that is a very welcome message that all of us should entertain seriously when it comes to other issues Diplomacy requires patience it requires abandoning the will to impose the will to coerce and replacing it with a will to Negotiate and a will to reach mutually acceptable solutions and I think What we did over the past two years? two and a half years particularly was to Try to see how best we could achieve our objectives without necessarily harming the interests and objectives and concerns of Our negotiating partners and I think we achieved that I think the deal is not a perfect deal No deal is ever perfect, but it deals with other Requirements that is removal of sanctions and at the same time respecting our right to have our nuclear program for peaceful purposes Because our nuclear program was always for peaceful purposes, but now we are prepared to show even greater Transparency in order for the international community to know what we already know that our program is nothing but peaceful And at the same time sanctions will be removed and Iran Provide the opportunities for both Economic interest in the region and globally to engage and I think that would be a good message for everybody So both in terms of the political aspect as well as the economic aspect globally It's a win-win situation and it's a win for us for all Regionally, I think it sends a message that if we can resolve something that everybody thought was impossible to resolve with countries who were Obviously at least Iran and the United States were hostile for at least 37 years then there is no impediment in Resolving regional issues between countries countries and people's who call themselves each other brothers and sisters and Who are bound by a common religion common faith common history common culture common? values Which makes it possible for all of us to work together To address a very serious challenge in our region and that is the challenge of extremism extremism is not a Threat against any particular nation. It's not a challenge It's not a concern that could be contained within a particular geography It cannot even be contained within our region. It has already spread all across the world You see the indications from San Bernardino to Paris to Madrid to Moscow to Islamabad to Istanbul anywhere You you just find the name Sydney Canada whatever name you can find on the map Extremism has been able to spread and infiltrate in that part of the world and it's a threat against every single one of us in this region and if we could resolve a Seemingly impossible problem of Iran's nuclear ambitions where somebody was calling it a nuclear weapons program And we were calling it our right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes if we could resolve that diametrically opposed Contensions that were being made and had been basically entrenched for over 12 years How can we not resolve small differences that exist in our region and I think that should be a message I'm sorry that some of our neighbors have found that a threat. I'm sorry that some of our neighbors reacted to the nuclear negotiations and to the Achievements that we had with an attempt to kill it with an attempt to torpedo it and now with an attempt to provoke A crisis in our region. I don't see why I Believe that we need to work for a resolution of all the misunderstandings and then work together For a better future and I think that should be the message of the nuclear deal So, thank you to both of you and let me build on this what Dr. Zerif just said so in 2014 when President Rouhani was here there was exactly on this stage He mentioned Iran's readiness to end the standoff against the West and given the recent discussions Rocket-largest discussions of even sanctions So my question is how realistic is this readiness and what is your today's message to the international Community well, we showed Over the past two and a half years that Iran was serious over the past six months We showed that we could even expedite Measures that we were supposed to take nobody expected Iran to finish implementing what we implemented in lessons Six months everybody was hoping Or waiting for April or May before we we would have the implementation day now We had the implementation day on Saturday The IAEA verified that Iran had implemented every single bit of its commitments under the JCPOA or the nuclear deal So it showed that we can in fact do it Reaching an understanding does not mean one side giving up Or submitting or surrendering Iran's defense program is outside the parameters of this deal and Iran spends a fraction of Some of our neighbors in the region on defense our defense budget particularly our spending on military hardware is Less than a tenth of what Saudi Arabia spends on military hardware And I find it rather bizarre that the United States expresses concern over Iranian missile program Which are defensive does not do not violate any current international regulation Maybe when 1921 1929 Security Council resolution 1929 was in effect Somebody could have argued but today with 2231 in effect Nobody can argue that Iran's defense program missile program has Violates anything we are entitled to our defense We are spending a fraction of what are very smaller neighbors spend on defense. So what's all this fuss about I? Can't understand of course there are domestic constituencies in the United States who were against this deal to begin with who did everything to kill this deal to begin with and Unfortunately, they were supported by the financing that came from region our region by the political Pressures that came from our region, but but let by guns be by guns. Let's start from now There is no threat coming from Iran against any of its neighbors No threat has come from Iran against any of its neighbors for over 250 years We did not invade anybody although we are the one of the biggest or the biggest country in the region We never invaded any of our neighbors But we defend ourselves and we are entitled to the means of our defense and we will not abandon those But we are prepared to engage in confidence building measures with all our neighbors I wrote an op-ed in in the New York Times and before that I wrote that same op-ed in a shagal I was set in an Arabic paper calling for a regional dialogue forum where we could raise our Concerns to towards each other including concerns over security and defense We are prepared for that because we have nothing to hide In fact if people come and start to come and look at our expenditure and Compare it with the expenditure of others in the region They'll see that you need to help us with with that a bit because we're not spending even a fraction of what others are So thank you very much for this and you know top of mind of the international community is our course of course the tensions between your country and Saudi Arabia so and there's a little bit of worry that we see a more destabilization of the Middle East So my direct question allow me this for a minister Is a war even possible war? No No, I I think Are Saudi neighbors need to realize that confrontation is in the interest of nobody? Unfortunately since I mean they We don't have any Saudi on the stage, so I do not want to go to the judge by myself I'll come back winner, but but I just want to just make a point since the agreement in Geneva in 2013 Our Saudi neighbors have been panicking. There is no reason to panic our friends Iran is there to work with you Iran does not want to exclude anybody from this region There is no need to engage in a confrontation Iran has been provoked time and again to kids to Iranian kids were molested in Jeddah Airport. I Was asked to break the romantic relations with Saudi Arabia Refused the unfortunate incident at the Saudi embassy has been condemned by everybody from the president to leader today to every other person Belonging to every political inclination and grouping in Iran So this was an act that we are not proud of it was an act against our Security our sovereignty and we are prosecuting the people who committed that horrendous act We have taken measures in order to protect Saudis We took measures in order to protect Saudi diplomats a couple of hours after that incident that very unfortunate regrettable incident again Unfortunately our Saudi neighbors were looking for an excuse to break diplomatic relations And so they did but I do not believe that anybody has any interest in Exacerbating tension in increasing the level of hostility in fact We should try our best as Iran has done to exercise self-restraint and to come to our senses and Engage in serious discussions Iran has always been ready for that Iran is ready for that now We we believe that the interest of our region will be best served by Cooperation against our common threat our common enemy which is extremism which is ISIS and Daesh and Nusra and others Who are ravaging our entire region and ravaging the world as a result? So thank you dr. Navanya and a more economic question. So it was a very fruitful visit of the president Rouhani 2014 He also mentioned here on stage that in a decade or so Iran will be among the top 10 economies You are strong if today certainly, but my question is what is your strategy anyway towards this? Iran is already 18th with regard to its GDP by Purchasing power parity measures Given the fact that Iran has the potential To come out of this Recession after lift of sanctions With a rate of Average 8% growth rate it is feasible to get to that point Being mindful of the fact that There are so many World Companies global companies who have expressed interest in energy sector in Iran in ICT in transit routes be it the railway or Roads or airways the big potential In Iranian economy which has been coined by some analysts as The most promising emerging market in coming decade Gives a lot of evidence that that Goal is achievable of course There are things to be done for that and the administration is Mindful of the fact that the business environment has to Improve a great deal and we have already started that work Our FEPA act Foreign Investment Protection Act is one of the most progressive in the region and 100% share in by foreign companies in different areas Is possible our? privatization Program has started already and many years ago now the private sector in Iran is strong enough to Be a partner but for foreign companies So I think with the improvement that we had in our monetary policy which proved to be Successful with regards to the inflation rate that goal of Growth rate in GDP is achievable Thank You dr. Navany and I think The investors or potential investors also interested in some domestic Policy questions you have scattered Palaeontarian elections soon And my question is what do you think? How will the nuclear agreement and the signing affect these? Elections or more to the point will it strengthen the moderate camp in your country? I Think The nuclear deal and the achievement Was perceived by Iranian nation as a national victory Not a Political victory by this faction or that faction and if you look at public opinion the Approval of what was done Runs more than 80% So that shows that this issue is not a divisive issue it's actually helped the unity in the nation and we think that the the Willingness and participation in the election overall will be greater than before Given the fact that the after Islamic revolution we have had this Democratic practice in our elections Of course, we have had ups and downs we have Difference of opinion on how to run elections and that is actually the thing which Increases the heat for election and the participation goes up, but I don't see The nuclear deal as a divisive element Thank you maybe Again a foreign policy question dr. Zarif he and Davos is also the special envoy of the UN for Syria Stefan de Mistura And he will call on the Syria talks next week in Geneva You mentioned recently that Iran is still remain Committed to serve this proxy war. So my question is what is the concrete? Proposal maybe for the incoming week. What can the global community expect out of these talks? But I think all of us need to recognize and that may be a truism to most of you here but It requires some doing to have it accepted in the region that there is no military solution To the crisis in Syria. I think that's a major major issue for understanding for accepting by all sides that there won't be a military solution We need a political solution Iran Was determined from the very beginning to help a political solution. Unfortunately, there were preconditions some Wanted the outcome of a political process to be determined before the political process started and That would make a negotiation Absolutely impossible. You cannot go to the negotiating room Telling the negotiating parties. This is what you're supposed to do At the end of your negotiations. Who would negotiate them? So we said that we need a political process in which there is a national unity government There are possibilities for free and fair elections, but at the same time there are possibilities for constitutional reform So that the winner is not a situation where the winner takes off that the winner Does not take all and the losers don't lose everything I think that's a formula that can in fact resolve the Syrian question provide Confidence to people that through that no matter who wins the election Everybody will have a stake a share in the future of Syria That has been the proposal that I made two years ago a four-point plan ceasefire National unity government Constitutional reform elections based on the new constitution. I believe that's the basic framework That that secretary Kerry says lies at the foundations of the new Security Council resolution. So we are prepared We are determined to assist in this process as I told Stefan de Mistura when he was in Tehran a week ago We are determined to provide every contribution and encouragement that we can in order to bring people to the negotiating table I think what is necessary is to make sure that those who believe That there is a military solution are also brought to their senses and brought to the negotiating table Thank you. My last question because of the time dr. Navanyan President Rouhani is scheduled to meet the Pope in Rome I think mid of next week. I think that's a strong statement of interfaith dialogue and understanding So from your point of view, what should be really on the top of the agenda of this kind of exchange in discussion? We think that Religions of the world can provide the best Resource for fighting violence and extremism We think that the idea of wave which was approved by General Assembly of UN by consensus which was proposed by president Rouhani can be discussed between religious leaders and If we can come up with the idea of a friendship human values to fight a negative Abuse of religion for violence that would help the peace in the world so Excellencies, thank you to both of you and dr. Navanyan mentioned the technology approach of Iran and Given the time you were as precise as the Swiss are in time. So, thank you very much again Please share your comments on the session via our top link session page on the app. Thank you once again