The remarks were made by Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who was speaking at a cordial meeting with Malaysian scientists, intellectuals and media leaders.
“The Islamic world is in need of unity, security and development while violence, extremism, hopelessness and lack of confidence remain as the main threats to it,” he underlined.
He defined and elaborated on the main principles of Iran’s regional policy including field combat against Takfiri terrorism, helping to settle peace and ceasefire, humanitarian assistance to the people, reliance of ballot boxes, non-disintegration of countries, sovereignty of the people over their countries.
The official deemed terrorism as a regional threat and called for fighting against Takfiri terrorist all over the region in order to put an end to the disaster.
Rouhani also called for ceasefire in Syria and Yemen as well as immediate deployment of humanitarian aid to the two nations; “geographical boundaries should never change and disintegration of countries would compound existing problems.”
“In the absence of Iran’s assistance, ISIL could have turned into a strong government in Iraq and Syria leading to an endless war at the international level,” noted the Iranian President.
Hassan Rohani underscored that Islamic and developing countries have faced numerous political, security and cultural difficulties over the past decades despite the fact that they were expected to follow the path of development after becoming independent.
“The West will continue its arrogance unless the world reached unity,” underscored the official adding that Western countries seek to rule the roost in all scientific, cultural, military and economic dimensions making it difficult for developing states to make progress.
He went on to maintain that “at no other time was the Islamic world entangled with such a flood of violence, murder or the presence of terrorist groups who are committing crimes under the flag of Islam.”
“The scorch of terrorism is even threatening those who designed it with the hope of defeating Islam,” said the official stressing that scientists and intellectuals of the Islamic world are currently shouldering a heavy responsibility since the youth are in danger of being inclined towards either violence and extremism or hopelessness and lack of self-esteem,” Rouhani continued.
He pointed to the need to change the discourse among young Muslims from haplessness to unity and development expressing satisfaction that a major portion of the Islamic world is still following the path pf meditation.
President of Iran also emphasized the need for science and technology as means of empowering Islamic nations; “countries like Iran and Malaysia have made massive progress in scientific arenas over recent years though they need to share experiences.”
The official also urged follower of different Islamic sects to consider common interests and ignore differences; “given the current critical conditions in the world, every single individual needs to feel more responsible and spare no effort in line with development of the Islamic world.”
Rouhani recalled his WAVE (World against Violence and Extremism) proposal made three years ago at the UN General Assembly and expressed hope that unity will emerge in the Islamic world.
The official, while highlighting that terror and Islam are unrelated issues, said Muslims have always been victims of unwanted wars and terrorism; “poverty, ignorance, discrimination, occupation, unfair governments and foreign interference are main roots of terrorism which need to be dealt with.”
“Terrorism causes the most damage to the face of Islam since the world will develop a negative image of Islam,” he underlined.
Hassan Rouhani appreciated the freedom enjoyed by followers of all religions in countries like Iran or Malaysia highlighting that Iran never seeks religious expansionism by imposing certain thoughts upon others.
Once more, the Iranian President underlined the importance of unity among different religions and touched upon the Leader’s recent remarks that “followers of all religions need to respect prominent figures of each other.”
Presdient Rouhani further called for closer ties with Malaysia especially in the post-JCPOA era; “banking and scientific relations need to be strengthened between the two sides since development of Thran-Kuala Lumpur ties would benefit both nations in addition to the region and the world.”
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