Iran's Zarif warns against negative-sum game
Iran's Foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned on Monday that US efforts to create "zero-sum" game will result in a game with a negative sum.
"Efforts to create a zero-sum game will lead to a game with a negative result," said Zarif while addressing the international conference on "Unilateralism and International Law" that is underway in Allameh Tabatai University (ATU) in Teheran.
"The US has set fire to our region. If there is war, there isn't a winner or loser. There are two losers, one with a heavier loss and the other with less heavy one", he added.
The Iranian foreign minister slammed the US for leaving International treaties, saying "there is no more such treaties from which the US can withdraw".
"The US pulled out of the JCPOA, the NAFTA, the Paris climate deal, the missile deal with Russia, and many others. I hope they also leave the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) so we are relieved," he joked.
The Iranian foreign policy chief noted that the "US will be the victim of the multilateralism that it created itself," referring to the fact that India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), two US allies, are using their national currencies, ditching the US dollar.
Zarif also urged the world to avoid using the word "sanction", arguing that it means "using measures to force one country to enforce law".
"However, the US doesn't want to enforce law and order in the world. What the US is doing is using coercive economic measures," he added.
"Multilateralism was created because no country in the world can solve its problems on its own," according to the Iranian minister.
"Zero-sum is not possible anymore. Multilateralism is there s because there is no other way around this. No country can solve situations on its own," Zarif stressed.
The international conference on "Unilateralism and International Law " kicked off in presence of representatives from Italy, India, Russia, Finland, Poland, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Macedonia and Afghanistan.
It envisaged forming four expert panels over different issues inculding the need to deal with unilateralism in the domain of International Law and the fate of international peace and security.
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