Iran's President Calls on Shiite, Sunni Muslims to Boost Unity
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday accused the world powers of interfering in the Middle East by stirring up unrest and discord, and asked Shiite and Sunni Muslims to boost unity to defuse enemies' plot.
“They are definitely the foreign hands that turn the natural, intellectual and theoretical differences into quarrel and dispute among denominations and sects,” President Rouhani said in a weekly cabinet session in Tehran on Wednesday.
He also warned that such foreign-engineered divisions could jeopardize the region and the world and also obstruct the process of development.
Rouhani further criticized the TV and radio channels that claim to advocate Shiite or Sunni Muslims but broadcast programs against each other, saying those media outlets are certainly organized by the colonial elements, directly or indirectly.
The president then stressed the need for unity between the Sunni and Shiite Muslims in a bid to counter the threats against the Islamic world in the contemporary era.
His comments came against the backdrop of a three-day international conference on Islamic unity that kicked off in Tehran on Wednesday morning.
Titled “Unified Islamic Ummah: Challenges and Strategies”, the event has brought together some 1,200 Islamic scholars and intellectuals from around the globe.
Attendees at the event include educated Muslim figures, ministers of Islamic countries, clerics, scholars and representatives of scientific and cultural circles from Iran and across the world.
