TEHRAN, June 11 (Mehr News Agency) – The speaker of Saudi Arabian Consultative Assembly, Salih bin Abdullah bin Hamid here Tuesday lauded Iran’s role in consolidation of Islamic unity adding that solidarity among the Muslims is an earnest duty of the Sunni and Shia scholars.

He made the remark in a meeting with Ayatullah Mohammad Taskhiri, Chairman of the Tehran-based Forum for Proximity Among the Islamic Schools of Thought.

 

The two officials as well as a number of Iranian Parliament members and Sunni and Shia scholars discussed the situation in the region as well as the plots of Israel and plans of the Untied States against the Islamic countries.

 

Iran is the world’s largest Shia country while Saudi Arabia is the custodian of the holiest Islamic sanctuaries, Ka’ba and the Shrine of the Prophet of Islam. Saudi Arabia is considered the big brother of Sunni countries and enjoys cordial ties with Iran.

 

Relations between the two countries became gloomy after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, but with the suppressive policies of Israel in late 1990s both sides moved closer to one another.

 

“The Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia are two great centers in the Islamic world, he said adding any damage to any one of them will deal serious blows on Islam.

 

Keeping away from hypocrisy and disunity is the most important factor in the preservation and spread of Islam, which will not be materialized except through awareness and wakefulness of the Muslims, the Saudi official said.

 

The roles of the two countries in materialization of the Islamic goals and their cooperation on international is undeniable, Ayatollah Taskhiri said on his part.

MS/SM

MNA