Prof. Henelito A. Sevilla, Jr., Dean of the Asian Center at the University of the Philippines and one of Southeast Asia’s leading Middle East scholars, declared that the Western liberal order has “utterly failed” to deliver genuine democracy, human rights, and freedom, whereas Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s inclusive, minority-respecting, and women-honoring intellectual framework offers the crisis-ridden world a practical and peace-oriented alternative that deserves serious study “from Manila to Latin America and beyond.”
Speaking to Tasnim News Agency on the sidelines of the “International Conference on the Rights of Nations and Legitimate Freedoms in the Thought of Ayatollah Khamenei” in Tehran, the prominent Filipino professor rejected Western smears against the Islamic Republic as “the highest form of hypocrisy.”
He praised Iran’s calm and security weeks after the defeated 12-day Israeli aggression, and stressed that continued resistance — not capitulation — is the only path to preserve Iran’s dignity and independence.
The following is the full text of the interview:
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Tasnim: Thank you for taking the time. The ongoing conference on the rights of people and the legitimate freedoms from the perspective of the Ayatollah Khamenei is under way in Tehran. What is your take on his views in this regard? How do you assess his positions, stances and speeches?
Sevilla: We are experiencing a kind of crisis in which the Western model of international order has failed to deliver what is expected from it, and one of these promises is basically democracy, human rights as well as freedom. Given that they are unable to deliver, this conference that elucidates the ideas of the Imam, especially with regard to the legitimate freedom of people as well as human rights, is very timely and very important. And the world needs to know there are so many beautiful ideas that can be studied under the Imam’s philosophy, but many of us just don’t know about them.
This idea of the Imam [Khamenei] may be a very good model that the global community can follow and put into practice in their own policies, governments and communities so that at the end of the day we would be able to achieve sustainable peace and harmonious relations among people.
Imam Khamenei’s idea of freedom and human rights is inclusive in its nature, it encompasses all structures of society and gives importance to different minorities. It respects women and all of this is something very good in which the global community, including my country and people, should know.
Tasnim: We have been seeing that Western states have been labelling Iran, specifically the Islamic Republic, and as a whole the religion of Islam, as opposing human rights and freedoms. But in contrast they have been turning a blind eye to what is happening in Gaza in terms of the genocide against the Palestinian people or the attacks that Israel has been conducting not only against Palestinians but also in Lebanon, in Syria, in Iran and also in Qatar against the capital city. What is your assessment of this double standard which is going on in this region?
Sevilla: It shows the ignorance of the Western world about Islam and about the importance of Iran in regional, geopolitical, economic and socio-cultural affairs. It shows how they prefer their own values against the interests of many people and it shows also that they are not inclusive when they preach democracy and transparency but operate in a different way. So this is for me a form of ignorance and a kind of double standard, and it’s the highest form of hypocrisy for these countries to label Iran in a negative lens when Iran is not really the thing they are talking about.
Iran is also a very big power. It is a very strong nation, rich in natural resources, and Iran is not an ordinary country. Therefore anything that Iran would want to do could be interpreted by these governments in the West as anti or as an opposing view to what they are doing.
The Iranian Islamic government is just doing the right thing. It actually champions human rights and it actually promotes unity in diversity. As we know, within Iran there is a lot of diversity, people from different backgrounds, but it maintains national unity. These are the positive things that Iran has that the world does not want to understand, particularly the Western countries, especially the United States. So it is either because of their ignorance or because they don’t just want to accept Iran as an important player in many aspects of regional and global affairs.
Tasnim: In some ways Iran is being portrayed by some Western states as a government similar to those religious Western governments back in the Middle Ages. Do you think that Iran is similar to those governments or society?
Sevilla: No, I don’t think so. The Iranian people are so open-minded, they accept innovation, they are good in research and they also embrace transformative change, positive change that will deliver their own society into sustainable progress or sustainable development.
This indicates that Iran is not living in the old ages. Iran is an outward-looking nation or country. Having said this, Iran is much more than what they [the West] think. It is a country that has huge potential in human resources and natural resources, and therefore all these accusations against Iran are biased and not true.
Tasnim: Within this region some try to frame Iran as a threat to regional security, but thanks to what has been happening recently and during the previous years, especially Israel conducting genocide in Gaza, attacking several countries and even attacking the allies of the United States, we are seeing an emerging approach among regional actors who are trying to rethink their approach toward Iran. They think that maybe Israel is the main source of threat. But in the meantime we are not seeing the expected unity among Muslim states, and some are talking about normalization with Israel. In contrast we also have the view of Iran, who says that Israel is the main threat against Muslim Ummah nations and Muslims need to be united, need to coordinate and work together against that common threat. What is your assessment of these views?
Sevilla: From the very beginning of the Islamic Revolution in the late 1970s we could understand the fear of the neighboring Arab countries because the Islamic revolution in Iran was phenomenal.
It was a very unique peaceful revolution and there was a misinterpretation of the so-called export of the Iranian Shiite ideology, but that was not true. Iran wants to live in its own existence with due respect to the national aspirations of the Iranian people and the preservation of Iranian dignity. Because of this misinterpretation about Iran’s intention, it led to misunderstanding and distrust between and among Muslim countries in the Middle East. But that was not true.
The real enemy of the Islamic world is Israel, because the Zionist regime in Israel is illegally occupying the Palestinian territories. It is attacking other countries like Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and recently we witnessed a 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Of course Iran was so prepared to respond because Iran and the global community believe that Israel has violated the sovereign rights of Iran which are protected under international law.
This kind of thing that happened between Israel and Iran during the 12-day war resulted in a kind of reassessment and rethinking by many Muslim countries around the globe, including in Africa and Asia, that Iran is not really what they think. Rather, Iran’s intention is to seek unity among Muslim countries or Muslim nations around the world.
It is open, it is inviting, it is opening its door for peaceful dialogue and interfaith dialogue between and among countries for as long as these countries respect Iran, then Iran will reciprocate the same. In the case of rapprochement we notice also in recent years that Iran has somehow maintained its relationship with Saudi Arabia, and thanks to the facilitation of China in this regard, that would bring back good relationship between Iran and Saudi politically.
This is also an indication that Western leadership in the entire Middle East region for many decades failed to provide an avenue in which Muslim countries could be united with each other. Now there is the so-called Abrahamic Accord. I think you are familiar with the Abrahamic Accord and Saudi Arabia has not yet joined the Abrahamic Accord. Iran will never consider it as a genuine peace offering.
This is a kind of peace offering operating under the false objective of Israel that would serve the strategic interests of Israel and the United States within the [Persian] Gulf and the general Middle East region in general. So these are developments that need to be rethought by many countries in the Middle East and the Islamic world, including countries in the Global South.
The recent unilateral attack of Israel against Iran, which violated Iran’s sovereignty, was actually a window of opportunity for the Arab Muslim countries and those countries beyond the Middle East that Iran really is a peaceful regional actor that seeks peace and understanding and not the one that the Western world is trying to promote against Iran.
Tasnim: You are visiting the country sometime after the 12-day war which was initiated by Israel and supported with the involvement of the United States. How is the situation in the country? Do you feel unsafe now you’re in Iran? How do the people in society feel, and how do Muslims outside Iran see this story of Iran facing aggression from Israel and the United States or their NATO allies, and Iran’s resistance which was led by the Supreme Leader? What do you think the solution is? Is it capitulation toward Israel and the United States or continuing resilience and resistance against this?
Sevilla: As I mentioned a while ago, the global perception of Iran has changed a lot after that war. For example, many Muslims in the Philippines, the majority of them are Sunni, and before this war they looked at Iran from a different lens because they promote the interest of the Sunni community. Yet during the war, when they saw that Iran resisted against the Zionist regime of Israel for the sake of liberating the Palestinian people of Gaza, this kind of Iranian behavior has contributed to the shifting of perception among not just the Muslim Filipinos but also the non-Muslim Filipinos as well.
Now in the Philippines you have Christians voicing their voices, volunteering to protest, to participate in many activities in solidarity with the Palestinian people. This is a kind of change in the way we look at Iran and in the way we look at the case of Palestine vis-à-vis the policy of the Israeli government towards the Palestinian and the Muslim world.
Iran should continue to resist because this is part of Iranian foreign policy: Iran must be self-sufficient, must be independent in its decision and must resist any form of abuses, any form of colonial abuse and imperial abuse against the sovereign Iranian people and the country. This is the idea behind the Islamic Revolution of 1979 when the Imam [Khomeini] wanted the Iranian nation to reassess themselves and to break away from the corrupt culture that was influencing the Iranian people at the time.
So this kind of resistance should continue because this is the best way for the Iranian nation to define itself as an independent nation that continues to look for the preservation of its national interest, its national aspiration and dignity.
In short, Iran may only negotiate with the United States if Iran is guaranteed that the US is genuine in its offering to Iran. But in many negotiations and many events we saw that the US is not faithful to what it wanted to deliver. So this is the kind of hypocrisy and double standard from the part of the Western governments, particularly the United States, in the way they approach Iran. Because of that I think it is rational for Iran to continue to resist Western imperialism in that sense.
Tasnim: How do you see the leadership of the Ayatollah Khamenei in navigating this condition and situation?
Sevilla: The fact that Iran is able to preempt the possible enduring attack of Israel as well as America on Iranian territory, and the fact that they are able to stop this attack until now, demonstrates that the Imam [Khamenei] and the government of Iran have been successful in thwarting these threats.
However, it is also possible that these threats coming from these countries would continue in the future for as long as Iran continues to resist them, because the grand strategy of the United States and Israel is to bring all these countries in the Middle East under their influence. But Iran doesn’t want to be influenced by these powers. So if I go back to your question, the government and the Supreme Leader have been very successful in managing this crisis and restoring peace and stability within this country.
When you ask me how I feel when I visit Iran this time, I felt so relaxed. There was no kind of worry and uncertainty. I was so sure that once I’m inside Iran I’m secure and safe because I have a lot of Iranian friends and I have known this country for a long time already. As compared to other countries in the world, when you are inside Iran you are very safe, and that is for sure based on my experience. For the past years and decades I was here I was safe and nothing had happened to me. So it is a peaceful country, it’s a hospitable nation and people are just doing what they want to do for their own future and for the next generation to enjoy.
Tasnim: We are also happy to see you here in Tehran and thank you for taking the time to join us.
Sevilla: You are welcome. You’re most welcome. Thank you so much.