February 16: Hassan Rouhani says Iran wants unity, consolidation, independence and has support towards the east
Addressing a gathering of Muslim scholars and intellectuals in Hyderabad on Thursday evening, Hassan Rouhani reiterated that Iran wants to have friendly relations with both Islamic and non-Islamic countries.
Yunus Y. Lasania
Hyderabad: Calling for mutual unity against “western power”, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said that his country is looking to “clear the hurdles of the people” in strife-torn countries of Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan. Addressing a gathering of Muslim scholars and intellectuals in Hyderabad on Thursday evening, Rouhani reiterated that Iran wants to have friendly relations with both Islamic and non-Islamic countries.
“Iran believes that there is no military solution to problems,” Rouhani told the gathering on the first day of his two-day visit to Hyderabad. “(The) western world oppressed and exploited the eastern world and its resources and in the process accidently established unfair relations between Iran, Asia and African, and created a gap in the society,” he added, according to a press release that quoted him.
Praising India for peaceful coexistence of people with different religions, Rouhani said that Iran wants unity, consolidation, independence and support towards the east. “We do not want to have any difference with other countries. Iran has stood against nations and regions, in order to stop war conflict and violence,” said the President. Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif was also present on the dais with Rouhani during the meeting.
The Iranian president arrived on Thursday at about 4.15pm at the city’s Begumpet airport as part of his three-day visit to India.
Accompanied by a 21-member delegation from Iran, Rouhani will address a gathering at the historic Mecca masjid in Hyderabad’s old city on Friday after offering afternoon prayers there. He will be in New Delhi on Saturday.
Apart from his address at the Mecca Masjid, which is a mosque built with Persian influence or architecture, Rounhani will also visit the Salar Jung museum in the old city of Hyderabad. His two-day visit to the city, which is believed to have a Muslim population of about 3 million, is significant as Hyderabad also has a huge population of Shia Muslims.
It may be noted that the street where the Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran is situated at Banjara Hills, was named as the Imam Khomeini road after former supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who is known for leading Iran’s 1979 revolution against the country’s monarch.
A Telangana government official involved in overseeing Rouhani’s visit, did not want to be quoted, said that the 21-member delegation that came with the Iranian president also comprises a few ministers from the Iran government. “His proposed visit to the Qutb Shahi tombs has been cancelled,” he added.