News - Middle East: Iranian President Sayyed Ebhraim Raeisi says the era of the West’s dominance over independent nations is “over,” stressing that Tehran has managed to thwart sanctions imposed by Western countries.

During a meeting with his Croatian counterpart Zoran Milanovic on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday Raeisi said Iran has made great progress despite sanctions.

“Despite efforts made by some Western countries to impose their interests and values on other countries in the world, the Islamic Republic of Iran has managed to turn sanctions and pressures into opportunities and has made significant progress in different fields, particularly the field of technology,” he said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said that Iran has made significant achievements in the fields of agriculture, industry, and medicine thanks to its peaceful nuclear program, noting that “we managed to treat one million patients with radiopharmaceuticals last year.”

“Why do the US and European countries, that own nuclear arsenals prevent other countries from benefiting from nuclear energy,” he added.

Sayyed Raeisi also hailed Milanovic’s announcement that his country is adopting an independent policy and expressed Iran’s interest in expanding political, economic, and trade ties with Croatia.

Milanovic, for his part, said Croatia has always tried to adopt independent policies, despite being a member of the US-led NATO military alliance and the European Union.

He noted that the adoption of independent foreign policy paves the way for “an ideal world.”

The Croatian president also opposed any attempt to impose values and cultures on other countries and condemned the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world countries.

Iran, Kazakhstan keen to boost ties

Also on Monday, Sayyed Raeisi met Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during which they called for accelerating the full implementation of bilateral agreements, including economic and trade deals.

Sayyed Raeisi said the fact that the two countries are Caspian neighbors and members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) paves the way for expanding bilateral ties.

He noted that enhanced trade ties between the two countries by sea or railway “serve the interests of the two nations as well as the regional countries,” adding that “effective steps must be taken” to accelerate the attainment of the goal.

For his part, Tokayev whoc visited Tehran in June at the invitation of Raeisi stressed that Iran is a strategic partner and close friend of Kazakhstan.

The two sides oversaw the signing of several cooperation documents on transport, energy, and tourism among other areas at the time.

Moreover, at the same time, in line with the implementation of an MoU signed in May between Iran and Kazakhstan on launching a new Central Asia-Turkey-Europe corridor, the first transit train, carrying sulfur, which set out from Kazakhstan, arrived in Tehran.

Source: Press TV