Addressing people in the southern port city of Kangan on Sunday, Rouhani said Iran will press on with its policies despite pressures from the US, the Zionists, and certain reactionary governments in the region.
The president pointed to the heavy hostile pressures against Iran over the past year, saying the Iranian nation tolerated the hardship and gave a negative response to the enemies.
He further expressed Iran’s willingness to hold amicable ties with all neighboring states, adding that any problems existing with certain neighbors have been initiated by them not by Iran.
Highlighting Iran’s close ties with Qatar, Oman, Turkey, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the president said Tehran favors normal relations with all parties, Shiite or Sunni, north or south of the Persian Gulf.
“Our goal must be development and progress of the entire region,” he underlined.
At the beginning of his trip to Iraq earlier this week, Rouhani took a swipe at the US for seeking division among the regional nations.
Rouhani said, “Americans pursue Iranophobia and have always sought to cause rifts between regional countries. They (Americans) always seek to create division and rifts to serve their own interests and save the usurping Zionist regime.”