Former Iranian Speaker: Islamic Awakening Enters New Phase

Palembang, Jan 30, IRNA – Former Iranian Parliament speaker Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri said the awakening of the Muslim nations and their demands for basic changes in political structures have opened up a new chapter in the Islamic world. He made the remark here Monday morning while addressing the opening of the 7th General Assembly Meeting of Islamic Inter Parliamentary Union in Palembang, Indonesia. Analyzing the recent uprisings in the Islamic world, he described them as unprecedented in the history of the Islamic civilization. He said the world witnessed nothing but scattered reformist movements by Muslims for years but now the span and size of the demands of reforms in the Islamic world are unique especially now that their most basic characteristics is their anti-oppression spirit and awareness of Muslim nations of their rights. Muslims are well aware of international developments and are fully aware of their rights to freedom and democracy so no one could now confront their will, thanks to development of communications technology and spread of information, he reiterated. Nateq Nouri said the rulers who tend not to hear the voices of their nations will only leave a very bad name behind. Highlighting responsibilities of representatives of nations in parliaments of Muslim countries, he stressed that people will not easily forgive the failure of their representatives in the parliaments in defending their rights against tyrannical rulers. He further noted that Lebanon and Palestine learned from the Iranian nation and then their resistance inspired nations in Iraq and Afghanistan to fight the US policies./end