Rouhani sees religious, ethnic diversity as good chance for unity, national development

Tehran, Dec 11, IRNA – President Hassan Rouhani said religious and ethnic diversity in Iran is not a security threat to the country but rather a big chance for unity and national development. Addressing a meeting with a group of Sunni senior clerics from across the country on Sunday, he said he has always concentrated on the capabilities of people and their merits in appointing officials instead of their religion or ethnicity. The most important criteria for all should be the teachings of the Holy Quran which preaches Muslims to regard themselves as brothers belonging to one single family, the President noted. He further remarked that the country still faced certain problems in areas pertaining to ethnicities, tribes, religions and gender which should be addressed. President Rouhani stressed that since the victory of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Iran has been looking at this diversity of ethnicities and religions and sub-cultures which have all gathered under the umbrella of Islam and Iran not as a defect but as a beauty and as a chance not a threat. The meeting took place in the first day of Unity Week which marks the week-long gap between the birthday dates of the Islamic Prophet observed by the Shia and Sunni Muslims. During the meeting, a number of Sunni Ulema stressed the need for further unity between the Shia and Sunni Muslims and condemned the terrorist acts by the Daesh terrorist group in Syria and Iraq. They also expressed their views on some regional and international developments. 1378/IRNA