Exclusive interview of Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Moscow Seyed Reza Sajjadi to Mediamax. - You mentioned in one of your recent interviews that the peace in the region will be established in the region only if all the Western military forces leave the region. Did Iran's official stance change given the fact the representative of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Hossein Salami made a statement on January 21 according to which there is nothing unusual about the presence of U.S. navy in the Persian Gulf? "American navy and military forces have been in the Persian Gulf and Near East for already many years. There is nothing uncommon about the fact that Pentagon sends a new warship to the region. The step should be considered in the light of maintaining the U.S. permanent presence in the region", he said. - No, our stance hasn't changed. We believe the presence of military forces of foreign states hinders the peace in this region. As for the statement made by Mr. Salami, he meant the presence of warships which is indeed a common practice given the fact that there were similar placements of such ships in the past as well. Iran has already got used to threats and they are not new for us. For this reason, we don't think the presence of warships right and we support they should leave the region. - Some Western states threaten to take military actions against Iran. Is Iran ready for the possible war? - Iran is a powerful country and the Iranian people have formerly proved that they are ready for everything to uphold their country's honor. In this case, we have alternative variants. But we think if there are intelligent politicians in the U.S., they will not take such a step any more taking into account Americans' defeats in Afghanistan, Iraq and other states. - After the EU had imposed an oil embargo against Iran, Tehran decided to make a step in return and be the first to stop oil supplies to Europe. Who will suffer most due to this decision? - The Western approach to Iran was unfair and based on double-standards in the past. Currently, only 17% of our oil is exported to Europe. Anyways, imposing an embargo can't exert a considerable impact on Iran. For this reason, it's clear that Europe deprives itself a very important "player" in oil supplies which doesn't take part in the political games. And the politicization of oil will be detrimental to Europe in the first place. If buyers start imposing an embargo to the producers and energy resources suppliers, one day the producer will start imposing an embargo to the buyers by stopping selling energy resources to them. - According to the data published by the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran, 2.5 cubic meters of Iranian gas is annually imported to Armenia. May the embargo imposed against Iran affect the import of the Iranian gas to Armenia? - I am sure that the embargo will no way affect the import of the Iranian gas to Armenia as we supply gas and not oil to Armenia. The policy of Iran is based on the principle of creating a good image on the gas market. - How will Armenian-Iranian relations develop in 2012? - Iran's strategic policy is based on the principle of establishing the best relations with neighbors. For this reason, as a very good partner of ours, Armenia has successfully collaborated with Iran and this interaction will be very positive in the future as well. - How do you assess Iranian-Azerbaijani and Iranian-Turkish relations? - Turkey and Azerbaijan are our neighbors. Historically, we have good relations with these countries. Of course, some arguments occur in some cases but it's important to remove all these discords at the right time. - Russia refused to sell C-300 systems to Iran several days ago. Will Moscow's step have an impact on Russian-Iranian relations? - Of course, at first Iran was offended but taking into account the historical ties between Russia and Iran we may say that the issue is of no importance any more. We have such strong ties in various activity spheres that the weakening of cooperation in one sphere won't have a serious impact on the cooperation in other spheres. - French President Nicolas Sarkozy stated several days ago that he would do everything not to allow the military actions against Iran to start which according to him will lead to a war and chaos. However, at the same time he urged the international community to impose new sanctions against Iran. How would you comment on this statement? - When I speak to different diplomats here in Moscow, they mention that Sarkozy very often changes his mind - there are many ups and downs. That's why one shouldn't take his words seriously. We think the military actions against Iran will be a great mistake. And sanctions against Iran are also a great mistake. That's why they should recognize our logical rights and abstain from applying double-standards to our country instead of speaking to Iran in the language of force. - Baku indirectly accused Tehran of recent hacker attacks to a number of Azerbaijani sites. - We deny these accusations. Perhaps, it was done by particular persons but we think the internet space should be healthy, without any interventions. And if Azerbaijanis have authentic documents and reasons, let them turn to us and we'll deal with the issue. - What do you think how much possible it is for Georgia to join NATO? And what position will Iran hold if it takes place? - We are convinced the West is interested in Georgia's membership to NATO to destabilize the situation around Russia. If it takes place, indeed it would be no way beneficial to the Georgian people, vice versa - it will be a great loss for them. The more independent the country, the better both for the state itself and the people. - Have you ever been to Armenia? - Unfortunately, I have been to Armenia only once. It was a short-term visit for a few hours. Besides, I didn't leave the airport where we were holding the negotiations. I have always been interested and attracted by the Armenian culture which has much in common with the Iranian one. The Armenian and Iranian people are very much alike by the warmth and hospitability. Give my regards to the Armenian people. Iran's Ambassador was interviewed by Narine Daneghyan specially for Mediamax.

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