TEHRAN- The Cultural Attaché of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Indonesia, has called for a new global narrative of Asia to challenge the monopoly of major powers over world history. 

Delivering his address at the 2026 Asian-African Conference Festival, hosted by the Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia on Tuesday, Yahya Jahangiri emphasized that nations in Asia and Africa must move beyond the legacy of territorial colonization to overcome the "colonization of their narratives."

He posited that while the physical colonization of lands in Asia and Africa was a tragedy of the past, a more insidious form of domination persists today: the monopoly over how history is told. He clarified that multi-narrativity does not imply a denial of truth, but rather a dismantling of the monopoly over it, asserting that every civilization must be granted the dignity to narrate its own journey through its own language and perspective.

Tracing this intellectual journey back to the 1955 Bandung Conference, Jahangiri described it as a defining catalyst for global ethical thought. While the original conference symbolized political independence, he argued that the "New Bandung" must now symbolize intellectual and cultural sovereignty, as well as independence in knowledge production.

A highlight of the address was the celebration of civilizational identity. Jahangiri reminded the audience that Iran is not merely a subject of geopolitical news, but the ancestral home of Hafez, Rumi, Avicenna, and Mulla Sadra—a cradle of wisdom and dialogue. Similarly, he hailed Indonesia not just as the world’s largest archipelagic state, but as a global model of religious coexistence and tolerance. Together, he suggested, Tehran and Jakarta can present a narrative where Asia is not a margin of history, but one of its foremost centers.

Crucially, Jahangiri identified the youth as the central force in this transformation. "Young people are not merely heirs to history; they will be the authors of a new chapter," he stated, urging the next generation to master the art of listening and accepting difference.

Concluding his remarks, Jahangiri warned that the future cannot be built on economics or military power alone, but requires a "civilizational imagination" rooted in justice and ethics. He poignantly noted that peace without justice is unsustainable, and diplomacy without ethics is reduced to a mere political technique. By rethinking diplomacy and diversifying the voices that tell our stories, he called for a future-oriented global solidarity that restores the dignity of all nations.