In the presence of the Vice President of the International Society for International Organization (SIOI), Riccardo Sessa, and in collaboration with the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in India, a conference was held yesterday by the Vice President of Iran HE Masoumeh Ebtekar, who illustrated a cultural and philosophical journey around the importance of the exchange of values between societies and inter- and intra-national tolerance. In this regard, Ebtekar proudly recalled that he is part of a coalition government between reformists and moderate conservatives, an executive that administers a society with profound differences within it - both religious and ethnic (the presence of the Kurds is important, as provided is the Islamic component).
The Vice President addressed the issue of international relations between a Middle Eastern state and the Western community. “The agreement on nuclear arsenals signed in Vienna a few days ago is important – she said – but there is still a lot to do in the field of multi- and bilateral relations”. For example, the Iranian vice president underlined that international sanctions (of which Iran itself is the subject - but also Putin's Russia) are a tool that does not have the desired effects, but which on the contrary slows down growth and development of the countries affected by it: "The efforts we are making to liberalize our country, such as having opened many newspapers and periodicals in recent months, or having put a hand in the economy to attract public and private investors, or the star seeking effective solutions for efficient choices in terms of agricultural policies, are often frustrated by the heavy international sanctions that we have to comply with".
As for the role of women in society, Ebtekar underlined that in the last ten years around 60% of those enrolled in universities are women, despite the fact that there are no female quotas established by law. Given the proximity of the event to the day against women's violence (November 25), the question from the audience about Iran's role in defending human rights, especially those of women, was therefore obvious in the light of Reyhaneh's hanging Jabbari – girl sentenced to death for killing her rapist (although the story was not fully clarified by the sentence). The vice president did not take a clear-cut position, limiting herself to recalling how the trial in this case was a very long and above all very complicated procedure.
Another question that arose from the audience was the role that Iran wants to play in the growing threat of terrorism. Could the rapprochement between the US and Iran on nuclear issues (with the Vienna agreements) mean a convergence of policies also on the front of the war against ISIS? Ebtekar condemned all types of terrorist violence that lead to systematic massacres of a large number of innocent civilians, but also highlighted the role of the international media, which according to the vice president too often tend to portray all Middle Eastern states as Islamic states and terrorists: “It has been just under a decade that Iran has not been guilty of international aggression. The violent and delusional tendencies that many terrorist formations assume are only a distortion of religious teachings, which as such are and should remain healthy”. In short, the Iranian vice president glossed over what her country intends to do to stop a threat that passes very close to her borders. However, Ebketar hoped for ever more intense work between Iran and countries like Italy on the issue of integration, and above all, mutual understanding.
