The Iranian president made the marks in a meeting with Denmark’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Kristian Jensen here on Tuesday. Talking about the execution of senior cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the president said “The response of criticism should not be execution. We hope that European countries, which pay heed to human rights, will act according to the same rights now.”
Stressing Iran’s intention for “good ties” with neighboring countries, he added “naturally crimes against Islamic and human rights will lead to public reaction.”
Rouhani underlined “Saudi Arabia’s weird action of cutting diplomatic ties with Iran was to cover its crime of killing a religious leader.”
He emphasized that Iran believes the best solution for solving differences between countries are negotiations and diplomacy. The current circumstances require all the countries to cooperate for fighting against terrorism and regional states can uproot terrorism in the region by getting united.
The president announced Tehran’s readiness to cooperate with other countries including the EU countries to fight against terrorism. Coordinated measures and plans are needed in the framework of WAVE proposal (World Against Violence and Extremism) in order to fight extremism in the world.
Rouhani added “Islam is a religion of peace and is against terror and terrorism. We should be aware of the incorrect misjudgments of some media toward Islam through which the terrorists recruit from other communities; an issue which is indeed a trap set up by the terrorists themselves and we should not be caught in it”.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the countries which receives the highest number of refugees, yet we are fully prepared to cooperate with other countries including Denmark,” he added.
The president emphasized on expansion of Tehran-Copenhagen ties saying that boosting relations will lead to international peace and stability.
He said that the presence of the Danish economic delegation and the FM is a sign of Copenhagen’s determination to expand cultural and economic ties with Iran.
Kristian Jensen, for his part, said that Denmark warmly welcomes the new developments of Iran’s economic programs which ease economic cooperation.
Talking about the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, he said that Denmark was the first country to condemn Saudi Arabia.
Jensen also said that his country’s policy is fighting terrorism in the world and emphasized bilateral cooperation in the field.
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