Key remarks by Seyed Abbas Araghchi Minister of Foreign Affairs at the meeting on cooperation and synergy between diplomacy and health

The doctors, nurses, and hospital staff who sacrificed their lives in these savage attacks while treating and caring for patients and the wounded, and who never for a single moment allowed hospitals, clinics, and medical and health centers to shut down—even under the most intense bombardments during the 12-day war and this 40-day war, just as in the eight-year war—truly displayed unparalleled scenes of self-sacrifice and courage shown by every single son and daughter of this nation.

Our armed forces made great sacrifices and rendered the world’s apparent largest conventional army helpless and defeated. This is by no means a slogan; it is a reality that the entire world acknowledges.

In the recent war, the Islamic Republic of Iran proved itself to the world and demonstrated that it is a resolute and invincible power.

No one imagined that Iran could resist in this manner against the United States, with the collaboration of the Zionist regime and the support of many other countries—including all the Western countries and certain other states that we all know—without bowing its head, and ultimately force the enemy to request negotiations.

In diplomacy as well, the Iranian nation showed that it knows full well how to defend its rights. I have heard this from various officials in exactly these words: “You won both the war and the diplomacy.”

In my view, we also won in ethics, honor, and dignity, and this is the result of the sacrifices and resistance of all our people, including the medical staff whose scenes everyone knows and has witnessed—and some of which you saw today as well.

During the war and afterward, we collected very large amounts of assistance from Iranians. The exact figure may be announced later, but truly millions of dollars were raised. Iranians, Shias, Muslims, and supporters of the Islamic Revolution came forward voluntarily to contribute, and we transferred these funds to the country.