Iranian President Congratulates Austria on National Day

In a message to Austria’s Chancellor Christian Kern on Wednesday, President Rouhani congratulated him on the occasion, which is celebrated on October 26 every year.

He further expressed the hope that through efforts made by the officials of Iran and Austria, bilateral ties between the two nations would expand in all arenas.

The Austrian National Day relates to political developments after World War II.

After the end of the war, Austria was occupied by the four Allied forces (Soviet Union, United States, Great Britain, and France), who divided the country into four zones. The capital Vienna was also divided in four, with the historic central district being jointly administered by the “Allied Control Council”. Although the Austrian parliament was democratically elected, every legislative regulation or political action of the government at first required consent by the Allied Control Council and later on could still be vetoed by it.

The negotiations over a State Treaty putting an end to the occupation could finally be concluded in the spring of 1955: the Austrian State Treaty was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna's Schloss Belvedere and entered into force on July 27, 1955.

As the last remaining foreign troops left Austrian territory on October 25th, October 26 was de facto the first day on which Austria had regained its status as an independent and sovereign state. Thus, the Austrian Parliament chose this very special day to pass the constitutional law on permanent neutrality to highlight the fact that it represented a unilateral and independent decision. Informally however, Austria's engagement to permanent neutrality was the motivation upon which the Soviet Union had agreed to the signing of the State Treaty and the withdrawal of its troops.