ISLAMABAD, September 23: Former Iranian Foreign Minister H.E. Dr. Javad Zarif has called for a new regional approach centred on dialogue, cooperation and shared prosperity, stressing that the emerging post-polar world places greater responsibility on regional states to build collective security.Addressing a roundtable discussion hosted by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) under its Distinguished Lecture Series, organised by the Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East and Africa (CAMEA), Dr. Zarif said the changing global order required a shift from a threat-centred security paradigm towards a possibility-centred approach based on regional ownership and cooperation.“The post-polar world does not give us peace automatically; it gives us greater responsibility. We must move from security against one another towards security with one another.
”Dr. Zarif, who served as Iran’s Foreign Minister from 2013 to 2021 and played a central role in negotiations leading to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), said power in the international system was increasingly distributed across regions, markets, technologies, networks and societies.He noted that no single state could control every major outcome, giving middle and regional powers greater strategic agency. According to him, issue-based coalitions, economic interdependence, technology, information and non-state actors were increasingly influencing international security and political outcomes.Reflecting on West Asia’s history, Dr. Zarif said the region had experienced colonialism, partition, sectarianism, occupation, invasion, externally sponsored conflicts, terrorism, sanctions and repeated military aggression.
He stressed that history should provide lessons rather than become a “prison” that prevents societies from imagining a different future.Discussing his initiative, the Muslim West Asia Dialogue Association (MWADA), Dr. Zarif said the framework sought to replace enmity with amity through dialogue, cultural engagement and economic cooperation, with the eventual possibility of a regional non-aggression framework.He highlighted Pakistan’s strategic importance as a bridge connecting West Asia, South Asia and Central Asia, noting that the broader MWADA concept envisaged participation by Pakistan, Türkiye and Egypt alongside the Persian Gulf littoral states.
Dr. Zarif also appreciated Pakistan’s efforts to facilitate dialogue between Iran and the United States, describing Islamabad’s diplomatic engagement and the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as important contributions towards dialogue and peaceful resolution of differences.He said Pakistan’s diplomatic experience could serve as an important asset in navigating complex regional dynamics.Concluding his address, Dr. Zarif said military superiority alone could not guarantee political legitimacy, while sanctions and coercion could not create lasting stability.
He stressed that foreign guarantees could not substitute for regional arrangements and called for learning from history without allowing it to determine the future.He emphasised the need to build a regional future where “geography was not a sentence, history was not a prison and differences were not used as a pretext for permanent conflict.”The roundtable was attended by former Foreign Ministers, former Foreign Secretaries, Ambassadors, senior civil and military officials, leading academics and security analysts.
