Political economist Shiran Illanperuma says that former President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi aims to strengthen ties with the global south as he moves towards economic development.
He made this statement while delivering the keynote address at the memorial service held at the Iranian Cultural Center in Colombo on the second anniversary of the passing of former President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Shiran Illanperuma further said:
Dear friends, distinguished guests, honourable ambassador,
Ayubowan, vanakkam, salam alaikum,
Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, the eighth president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, perished 2 years ago in a helicopter crash in the mountains of East Azerbaijan. Raisi was returning from the inauguration of a dam on the Iran-Azerbaijan border.
He was returning from an act of multilateralism, of South-South cooperation between two sovereign nations of Asia. I think that itself tells us a lot about the man and the nation he represented.
Just 25 days before his death, Raisi stood on Sri Lankan soil. He came when our country was on its knees, navigating the harshest economic crisis in our history. He came to inaugurate the Uma Oya Hydropower complex- another dam.
He said something there that I would like us to remember this evening:
‘The dominant system in the world tried to convince all other countries that without their presence, participation, and knowledge, it is not possible to realise development and progress’.
‘We believe that these words are rooted in colonisation, arrogance, and an unfair system and it is totally rejected.’
Those words capture so eloquently, the arrogance of the Global North, and the mood in the Global South. They capture the philosophy of Ebrahim Raisi, and the best principles of the Iranian Revolution.
A dam is a powerful symbol in both the ancient and modern world. Dams regulate the passions of nature – they irrigate fields, power factories, and light homes. They can symbolise a unity between agriculture (the farmer), industry (the worker) and science and technology (the intellectual).
Dams also symbolise state power – the ability to mobilise human and material resources to build great feats of engineering that bring people together under a common destiny. It’s no surprise that many great civilisations – from the Persian to the Sinhala – were based on dams. And let’s not forget that the great revolutionary states of 20th century sought to build state power through large scale hydroelectric projects.
In other words, dams are feats of nation building.
But many countries around the world ran into immense debt and technological dependency in the process of building dams. Sri Lanka has had its fair share of experiences with this, from the Galy Oya project of the 1950s to the Accelerated Mahaweli Programme of the 1970s. Dreams of energy and food sovereignty were turned against us by the policies of the US-led IMF and World Bank. They became nightmares of debt and dependency.
In fact, Iran too had this problem. Before the Iranian Revolution, under the dictatorship of the Shah, dams were built through foreign loans and technology. It was only after the Iranian Revolution that indigenous skills, technology, and financing were mobilised for dam development. And the goal of the revolutionary government was food self-sufficiency.
Remember that under the Shah’s ‘modernisation’ project, Iran’s oil was privatised to foreign corporations and the state was in a national debt. It was the Iranian Revolution which took back the nation’s resources and repudiated the illegitimate debts.
I speak of the Iranian Revolution to speak of Ebrahim Raisi – he was very much a product of that revolution. He was not born to power but into a poor clerical family in the city of Mashhad. When he was just five years old, his father died. As a child, he polished shoes on the streets to help his mother put food on the table. His arc from shoe shiner to statesmen reflects the arc of the national liberations struggles of the twentieth century. The Iranian Revolution is in that tradition, and Raisi was a product of it.
Raisi became President of Iran in 2021, a year of great global churning. It was the year of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first year of the Presidency of Joe Biden in the US – Iran had just been through the maximum pressure campaign of the first Trump administration, and though the Biden administration sought to restore the liberal rules-based imperialism, the mask had already slipped. I think Raisi knew this, and acted accordingly.
Raisi faced a contradiction. The US empire that had dominated the world since the fall of the Soviet Union was in palpable decline. It faced technological and financial competition from a rising Asia, buoyed by China. It’s control over natural resources was challenged by an assertive Global South. However, the US still had the tools for hybrid war: control over communications infrastructure and the flow of information, and – most dangerously – an overwhelming military power.
Raisi not only navigated this dangerous conjuncture, but steered Iran into actively constructing an alternative framework for multilateralism and South-South cooperation. Rather than beg the Global North for sanctions relief he led what his foreign ministry called justice-based multilateralism. He sought to improve diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, a rapprochement mediated by China, rather than a Western power.
He signed a 25-year strategic cooperation pact with China. He also deepened ties with Russia, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, India, and Uzbekistan. In April 2023, Iran joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and in January 2024, Iran joined BRICS. Iran brought to both these forums a moral and ideological clarity.
But Raisi’s foreign policy refused to choose between principle and pragmatism. He travelled to BRICS summits, to the United Nations General Assembly, to Asian capitals. He negotiated. He signed agreements. He extended the hand.
But in the same breath, he held firm to the core commitments – the sovereignty of Iran, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and the support for the Axis of Resistance.
Closer to home, Raisi sought to shore up Iranian sovereignty. Perhaps one of his most far-sighted policies was to emphasise the need to develop Iran’s digital capabilities. For example, he promoted the development of the National Information Network – a domestic internet infrastructure, designed to reduce dependence on the global, US-dominated web.
He also promoted the creation of local applications as alternatives for foreign companies. In 2023, he established the National Steering Committee and the National Artificial Intelligence Centre.
Ebrahim Raisi was an active proponent of the concept of the ‘resistance economy’, which was championed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. As a republic that has spent most of its sovereign existence under sanctions by the global hegemon, he understood the need to nurture self-sufficiency. The core principles of the resistance economy were:
- Reducing oil dependence by diversifying the economy.
- Promoting domestic production and import substitution, especially in industries like pharmaceuticals, steel, petrochemicals, and basic consumer goods.
- Developing the knowledge-based economy, with investment in technology, biotech, nanotech, and higher education to move up the value chain.
- Strengthening economic relations with the Global South.
As a Sri Lankan who lived through the 2022 economic crisis, I believe every Sri Lankan economist, policymaker, and citizen should learn from these principles.
Friends, in the spirit of Ebrahim Raisi, I would like to conclude by saying that not only is it possible for the countries of the Global South to achieve development and progress without the participation of the Global North.
Perhaps, the exclusion of the Global North is the only condition in which development and progress can be base on the principles of sovereignty and dignity.
If the Global North has nothing to offer other than tariffs, sanctions, and bombs, we will do without them. We will work together, and build together.
Thank you.
Speech of His Excellency Dr. Alireza Delkosh
His excellency stared his speech with welcoming the guest speakers and he recalled the memory of the former president shaheed raise’s Sri Lanka visit. He mentioned that the bond between Sri Lanka and Iran back to so many decades. And he specially thanked to Mr. Ali Sabry’s cooperation with former president raise’s Sri Lankan visit and he said Mr. Ali sabry did a great contribution for it.
Speech of Mr. Ali Sabry
Former Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry In his speech his remarks mainly focused on Paying tribute to President Raisi’s leadership and humility, Highlighting the long-standing friendship between Sri Lanka and Iran. Appreciating Iran’s support for Sri Lanka, including projects like Uma Oya Expressing condolences to the Iranian people and leadership. Emphasizing cooperation, regional peace, and mutual respect between nations. He emotionally mentioned the uniqueness of Shaheed souls. He captured the Qur’an verse from Sura Aala Imran and mentioned the holiness of Shaheed souls. He praised late presidents moral and ethics qualities as a real president.
