ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Iran Dr. Reza Amiri Moghadam Thursday called for shunning religious violence and Islamophobia, emphasizing the need to take coordinated measures at the national, regional and international levels, especially in the Islamic countries, to combat the phenomenon of Islamophobia.
“March 15th is the International Day to Combat Islamophobia. The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Pakistan, while condemning all shapes of extremism, religious violence and Islamophobia, emphasizes the need to take coordinated measures at the national, regional and international levels, especially in the Islamic countries, to combat the phenomenon of Islamophobia,” said the Ambassador.
“Unfortunately, the actions of some terrorist and extremist groups in the name of Islam have damaged the face of Islam and increased the wave of Islamophobia in the world. In the meantime, the biased highlighting and exaggeration of actions of the extremist and terrorist groups by the Western propaganda apparatus, has aggravated the waves of Islamophobia. Still, they are silent amid genocide and atrocities of the Zionist regime in Gaza,” he added.
He said unfortunately, the Zionist and imperialist conspiracy through provocative actions such as sacrilegious desecration of the Holy Quran, disrespecting the Prophet of Islam, and contempt of the religious values of one and a half billion Muslim people under the pretext of “freedom of expression” has become an ordinary issue.
“This virulent phenomenon causes the escalation of tension, hatred, Islamophobia and violence against the Muslims. However, it is a threat for the international peace and security and human rights and a threat to the peaceful relations between the nations, peaceful coexistence and conciliatory symbiosis in the planet,” he added.
“While expressing concern about the acts of violence, extremism and terrorism, especially in the name of religion, it condemns desecration of the religious values and provoking the feelings of the followers of Islam under the pretext of freedom of expression. It calls on the international community to avoid standing indifferent, and to act and combat sacrilegious acts of the desecration of the Muslim beliefs and values including desecration of the Holy Quran and the sacred places of the Muslims including Al-Aqsa,” he added.
“While emphasizing the importance of taking coordinated measures to combat all shapes of discrimination, xenophobia and violence against Muslims, it invites all to endeavour and combat Islamophobia, religious violence, terrorism and hatemongering within the framework of the national and international laws and regulations,” he concluded.
