Defence minister underlines Iran's regional, international clout

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan reiterated Tehran's constructive role in regional and international developments, and said the country enjoys a high position on the international scene. “The Iranian nation is now in a position that the US president (Barack Obama) contacts our president (Hassan Rouhani) in order to hear Iranians’ voice. This is a matter of pride for us,” the Iranian minister said on Monday. “There might be different attitudes towards what happened last week. Nevertheless, the US president’s move, and that western and European heads of state lined up to meet with Rouhani can be indicative of our nation’s glory and might,” Dehqan said while noting the historic telephone conversation between the Iranian and US presidents. Meanwhile, Dehqan expressed hope that the Iranian nation will tread the path of dignity and pride. On Saturday, President Rouhani announced that the phone talk with his US counterpart Barack Obama was held at the request of the White House. "Yesterday (Friday) at the moment we were preparing for moving towards the airport (to leave New York after attending the UN General Assembly meeting), the White House contacted us and expressed the willingness of the US president to have a phone conversation for some minutes," Rouhani told reporters at Mehrabad airport after returning Tehran from New York on Saturday. "Our (UN) ambassador's mobile phone was contacted on the way (to the New York airport) and the main topic of our discussion was the nuclear issue," he added. Rouhani elaborated on the process which led to President Obama's phone talk with him, and said, "The first news on the Americans' willingness for Obama's meeting with me was released at the time we were heading to New York." He said that there wasn’t enough time to make the necessary arrangements for a meeting between Obama and him in New York. Earlier, the Islamic republic news agency reported on Friday that the Iranian and the US presidents talked over phone before President Rouhani’s departure from New York. The two presidents talked over the phone as President Rouhani was in a car and heading towards the New York International Airport. President Rouhani and President Obama discussed different issues during their phone conversation. The Iranian and US presidents underlined the need for a political will for expediting resolution of West’s standoff with Iran over the latter’s nuclear program. President Rouhani and President Obama stressed the necessity for mutual cooperation on different regional issues. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his US counterpart John Kerry have been commissioned to follow up talks between the two countries.