The death of Iran’s moderate former president, Ayatollah Rafsanjani, the ongoing conflict in neighbouring Syria, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the opportunity to play a bigger part on the world stage are among the critical trends shaping Iran in early 2017.

In this session Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif talks about these and other developments and their significance for the country and the world.

On internal politics and the impact of Mr Rafsanjani’s death, Zarif feels that the drafting of the Citizen’s Rights Charter - published in December 2016 - led to a genuine political debate in Iran, and that the Iranian people were participating in shaping their future in the process. He says that the country is moving into the right direction.

Looking at international relations, Zarif reassures the audience that, regardless of elections later this year, Iran’s policy on the international scene will see continuity as Iran is interested in stability and tranquillity in the region and beyond.

An example of this is Iran’s involvement in the forthcoming peace talks on Syria in Astana.

However, he expresses hope that the talks would be the first step toward ending hostilities in the long term and starting a political process, as well as pragmatic aspects such as providing greater humanitarian access to Syria. It’s about allowing Syrians “a sense of normalcy” and “to let them get on with their lives.” He accepts that the future of President Assad has been the proverbial elephant in the room, but states that this is something the Syrian people have to decide themselves.

On tensions within the Middle Eastern region, he sees a need to “look at realities of the region.”

"We need to look at the fundamental reasons why our region is moving in this very seriously wrong direction and we need to understand that nobody can derive any benefits – not even temporary benefits – from supporting extremism, terrorism and sectarianism."

When asked about his views of the incoming US administration,he emphasizes that he does not want to pre-judge the Trump administration before it has taken office, but reiterates that Iran has fundamental differences with the US.

On the question of changes in geopolitical approaches Iran is taking, Mr Zarif says that he thinks that the nature of the global environment has changed. One major change he has seen is that nation states no longer dominate but that private corporations and other non-state players are making an increasing impact in shaping the world.

As to Iran’s strategies, he highlights that its policy is multidimensional: “China, Russia and India remain our important international partners. They have remained with us through our difficult times.”

However, the country would also like to move closer to Europe and other countries, and is also open to closer economic relations with the US, Zarif states.