Jannati Deplores Escalation Of Terrorism, Calling On Muslims To Refrain From Violence

Tehran, Jan 21, IRNA – Minister of Culture and the Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati on Monday deplored escalation of terrorism and called on the Muslim nations to refrain from violence. He recalled the initiative put forward to the United Nations General Assembly by President Hassan Rouhani last September to designate the year as the year of avoiding terrorism and violence. Jannati said that the initiative should be regarded as source of pride for the Islamic Republic of Iran. The idea was also hailed at conference on Islamic unity in Tehran, he said. Some 370 religious and scientific figures from 54 countries round the globe attended the 27th conference on ˈIslamic Unityˈ on January 27-29. ˈUnfortunately, we are witnessing that violence and extremism have engulfed the entire region and the Middle East in particular such as Syria, Iraq and Lebanon,ˈ Jannati said. Iran is to persuade the Islamic governments to renounce violence and extremism. There is no doubt that the exchange of views and opinion between intellectuals and politicians will leave positive impacts on encouraging the Muslims to renounce violence, he said. Such conferences such as Islamic Unity help thwart plots hatched by the enemies, he said. Active presence of world intellectuals in the confab indicates the credibility of the international conference, he said./end