Zarif: America should abandon illusions to make understanding possible. We are neither pro-Eastern nor pro-Western, we are pro-Iranian. We should not consider our neighbors a threat, although we have many grievances.

  Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif:

 If anyone thinks he can break our will, much less force us into complete submission, he is sorely mistaken, as some have been under the illusion.

 But they can reach an understanding with Iran, so that this path continues in a peaceful and transparent framework, so let's put aside this illusion.

  The lesson that America and the world should learn from the twelve days of aggression and holy resistance of the Iranian people is that Iran will never kneel.

 We must strengthen our defense.  Iran still spends less on defense than any country in the region, and we need to invest more in this sector, of course, within the existing limits.  Of course, other countries in the region should also limit their military spending.

We are Iranians, we are not orientalists, nor westernists, but Iranians.  Our relations with our neighbors should be forward-looking, we should not remain captive to the past.

Finally, we must interact with the world.  Now we have reached self-confidence.  After two hundred and twenty years of humiliation by foreign powers, the Islamic Republic has shown that even though it cost it, it was able to maintain its dignity/Jamaran