<\/p>\n
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Dr Saeed Khatibzadeh, currently visiting SA, made the remarks during an address to academics and diplomats at the University of SA (UNISA) in Pretoria. The visit forms part of a series of engagements with local stakeholders as Iran seeks to strengthen international partnerships and explain its position.<\/p>\n
Khatibzadeh said SA had maintained a principled stance despite what he described as pressure from Western countries to marginalise Iran. \u201cWe are very much committed in collaboration and cooperation with everybody to bring this awareness into action,\u201d Khatibzadeh said.<\/p>\n
Khatibzadeh praised South Africans for taking what he characterised as a morally grounded position in global affairs. \u201cYou deserve a great applaud. Be proud of yourself that you sided with the right side of history,\u201d Khatibzadeh said.<\/p>\n
The comments come amid ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States (US) following a recently signed memorandum of understanding aimed at reducing tensions. The framework includes provisions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route, and ending the US naval blockade, both of which are seen as critical steps toward stabilising the region.<\/p>\n
The diplomatic push follows months of conflict escalation that began in February, when the US launched large-scale airstrikes against Iranian targets. Despite the attacks, Iran is widely understood to retain substantial military capacity, including missile systems.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–SABC\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":37886,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-37885","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Iran has commended South Africa (SA) for its diplomatic support during the ongoing Middle East crisis, as efforts continue to secure a broader agreement between Tehran and Washington.","published_date":"","news_description":"Iran has commended South Africa (SA) for its diplomatic support during the ongoing Middle East crisis, as efforts continue to secure a broader agreement between Tehran and Washington.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37892,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37885\/revisions\/37892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=37885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}