Juan Dufflar and Yimel Diaz
After 20 years of services out of his country, Kambiz Sheik-hassani was posted ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Cuba. In his first interview to a national newspaper he told Trabajadores this appointment has been an honor for him, because he brings his President’s order, Doctor Hassan Rohani to keep on strengthening the relations in a State considered by them as one of the axis of solidarity between the nations and governments of Latin America.
“I will focus my efforts in promoting and strengthening as much as possible, the links between the two countries. I am convinced that the common dreams of the Cuban Revolution and our country, the positive approach of its leaders and the mutual solidarity will help to support this task,” Kambiz Sheik-hassani said.
The diplomat noted that after the triumph of the Iranian revolution in 1979, the Cuban embassy was one of the first ones to set up in Teheran. Since then, the political relations are excellent. It can be seen in the interchanges of visits between the successive presidents from both countries and other top level delegations. Also the periodical advices in topics related to international issues and the coordination of opinions to face the discrimination policies and the double standard promoted from the centers of power.
In this case, he stressed that “Cuba has been one of the nations that have supported us in relation to the conflict on the pacific use of nuclear energy and the reject to the sanctions and resolutions on the human rights against Teheran.”
In reciprocity, the Islamic Republic has among its main priorities the defense, in the international arena, of the rights of the Cuban nation, and the need to put an end to the economic, commercial, and finance blockade imposed by the government of the United States against Cuba.
In relation to the economic collaboration he commented there are very good perspectives: “Among the priorities there is to advance in the agreement of commerce compensated and in that of the collaboration in pharmacy, biotechnology, nanotechnology, agriculture, education and in other spheres,” he added.
Iran is a pacific country and lover of peace, he stressed, during the last 200 years, we have never attacked any other nation, although unfortunately, we have been attacked and militarily occupied five times during the I and II World Wars. In the 1980s, the President of Iran by then, Saddam Hussein, imposed the Iranian country a totally unjust war to its people. For 35 years, after the triumph of the revolution, we have been working to preserve peace in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In this sense the Persian nation has had an active participation in the conflicts of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan and the clashes with terrorist of the self called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
We welcome and take in the integration idea of Latin America, the ambassador commented about the ALBA and CARICOM-Cuba Summits that had recently been held in Havana.
During the last 15 years, we have strengthened the relations with country members from ALBA whom we share a similar history, he said. You have suffered the arrogance and colonialism, and we too. We have both learned that if we are separated it is easier to be under the control of the great empires. On the contrary, if we are united, the victory will be ours. From Iran we admire those great precursors of the integration movement in the region that are Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.
Kambiz Sheik-hassani highlighted the role of advance developed by Cuba in the fight against Ebola virus: “They have had difficulties to act due to pressures from the neighbors of the North, but they have a great and valuable heart,” he noted.
In his condition of Muslim Iranian, the ambassador said he was worried for all that had happened with the patrimony of his region: “I feel proud for the more than 2, 500 years of history we have and I am unsatisfied to see that groups like Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and now the Islamic State have destroyed the historical patrimony of Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq… The nations of this region come from very ancient civilizations and that treasure belongs to humanity, no one has the right to destroy it.”
