The virtual meeting “From Ukraine to Gaza: The Emergence of a New World Order” was held on February 19, 2024, in the presence of Baburin and Mohammad Reza Moradi, Director General of Mehr’s Foreign Service.
The Russian politician made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Mehr News Agency about the latest international development in the region and world.
For more than four months, we have witnessed an unprecedented genocide in Gaza. As a Russian politician, what do you think of this genocide? And why did the international community have two different approaches to the Russian-Ukrainian war? Although the US and Europe boycotted Russia in the Ukraine conflict, they refused to boycott the Zionist regime. What is the reason for this double standard approach in European and American foreign policy?
This approach stems from the US and NATO double standard policies in these two wars. The tragedy that is happening in Gaza shows that Israelis have a problem with civilized values, and we must not allow Zionists to occupy Gaza. Anyone can live as they like, and Putin’s position on this issue is obvious.
I think it’s amazing that Israel would be falling apart and I am very surprised by Israeli policy. The Israelis need to understand for themselves that Israel can no longer exist.
Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an interview to American journalist Tucker Carlson. Many former Western officials have claimed that the interview revealed the true face of Western media and exposed the lies that Western media had told about the war in Ukraine. What do you think about that?
I think that the West fails to comprehend Russia completely, even after watching this interview. The values promoted in Russia and Iran are rooted in love, and we bravely stand up to defend this love and the people who hold such values. We feel grateful to have friends who understand us.
What is your opinion about the changing world order that Russia has challenged?
This question is very important. I want to point out two things and why Russia is fighting slowly in Ukraine and not showing its military power to the whole world. Russia could have taken Ukraine in two to three weeks, but unfortunately in two and three weeks we cannot convince the public opinion and this requires a generational change.
Putin decided to gradually advance the war, and this coincided with the gradual movement of the US.
It is delusional to consider US President Joe Biden as the owner of the US, while he is a puppet that is being used as a tool. But why don’t they use their military power against Russia in the Ukraine war completely? In my opinion, it is because the Americans want to move towards China.
We all witness that the European Union is ready to help Kyiv in the Ukraine war but most people do not see that it is the US that is fighting Russia.
Even though you were one of the candidates in the Russian presidential election, why did you drop out in late January?
As you know, Russia is at war, not only with Ukraine but also with the West. When Russia protects its civilizational values, the West seeks to destroy those values, so I support Putin’s actions to protect those values, but we have a few disagreements about internal politics.
During a political party meeting, we suggested Putin be nominated by our party, but he decided to run on behalf of the people rather than a particular party. So I decided to run on behalf of my own party because I wanted to point out the defects in our politics. But after the brainstorming, we asked ourselves the question: When I decided to run for office, I would get some votes, and why should the presidential vote be reduced with my participation? I preferred to give up.
I think the voters to me are the ones who support Putin’s policy in general, but they see some deficiencies in our politics. I believe that in the current condition of war in which we are engaged, my participation in elections is not in line with the interests of our country.
Unfortunately, we have internal enemies, and they are interested in the West and are trying to interfere with our elections. That’s why I withdrew from running for office and appealed openly to Putin, simply saying: Let’s not back down in the war with the West and continue constitutional reforms and try to keep the property in the hands of the people in line with our economic policy.
I also participated in the 2018 elections, and it was important for me to show the Russian people that we must follow our own path for Russia, and to look at the experience of the Islamic Revolution. I emphasize that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been able to resist the West for years because it has chosen its own path and has insisted on its religious, cultural, and traditional values. In 2018, the president heard my remarks and paid attention to them so we had amendments to the constitution in 2020.
When we face criticism of our economic and social policy, we try to support the President, and these are the principles that my party has followed and cared about for the last 30 years.
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