Iran

Ayatollah Shirazi advises West to use the emerged opportunity to build trust

80959720-5329729The West should use the emerged opportunity for trust building, said Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi, an Iranian source of jurisprudence, here on Thursday in a meeting with the German ambassador to Iran.
Scholar advises West to use the emerged opportunity to build trust
“Some governments, including Israel, are opposed to reaching any compromise between Iran and the West, but the westerners must take advantage of the emerged opportunity properly,” he said.

The prominent cleric said that expressing worries about the Iranian nuclear program is due to pure hallucination, emphasizing, “We believe this fear and intimidation is generated by the outsiders in our neighbors, and if they would stop intriguing the others, this imaginary fear, too, would fade away.”

He emphasized that the Iranian nuclear program is quite transparent, adding that the Iranians are by no means after manufacturing the nuclear weapons and such pretexts are politically motivated.

Ayatollah Makaram said, “The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution has issued a decree announcing that the production of all types of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) is religiously prohibited (Haraam), and the verdicts issued by me, and the other sources of jurisprudence, too, are the same on this issue.”

The Shi’a source of jurisprudence reiterated, “The emerged opportunity might never be repeated and in order to ease the existing worries, it should be used and not wasted; but of course as we have reputedly announced, and will announce again that our nuclear program is both peaceful and transparent.”

Replying to the Germany envoy’s announcement of his nation’s enthusiasm in having dialogue with the Iranians, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi said that the Iranians, too, are agreed with that position, believing that in such interactions many of the problems can be solved.

He added, “Very often, staying away from each other and refraining from holding talks leads to suspicions and pessimism, while sitting together and talking leads to the easing of the suspicions, particularly in the case of our country, that the western media have portrayed a dark image of it; therefore, when a group would come and see firsthand the Iranians, they would see and realize that a image presented of Iran, of Islam to and of Shi’a Muslims to them had been wrong images and politically motivated.”

The source of jurisprudence emphasized, “Sometimes when the foreign reporters contact us we ask them whether the Iran that they had viewed its image in the media matched the reality they saw firsthand. They always reply negatively, arguing that it is totally different.”

He said that in case of the political issues, too, the same is true, and therefore, if the world nations are supposed to live peacefully side by side with one another, the best thing to do is to get acquainted with each other and to get acquainted with each other, not through the distorted images presented to them.

Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi said that the German ambassador could play a decisive role in expansion of relations between Iran and Germany, by telling that nation about the peace and security that he sees here, and the way that the Iranians encounter each other. “You can also transfer the news on democracy you see that observed during the elections here, and in doing so you have changed the western mentality about Iran in your own share.”

To another question on insecure conditions in the Middle East and particularly in Syria, and the major roles that can be played by Iran and Saudi Arabia in easing the tensions there he said, “We believe the main players in the unrests in those places are the Israelis and the Americans.”

Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi added, “We believe such groups as al-Qaeda and the other terrorist groups are direly or indirectly connected with the United States and Israel, and it is actually them that have made there so insecure. If they would rally stop contributing to the terrorists, stop showing them the green light, and stop sending them weapons, leaving Syria’s affairs to the Syrians to decide, then Syria will be safe and secure again.”

He added, “We believe the westerners will realize that these extremists, these brutalities that they have unleashed in the region, are of no use for the region and the world.”

The German ambassador also asked the source of jurisprudence about the situation in Afghanistan and that kind of what shared efforts Iran and Germany could have regarding Afghanistan, and whether religion, too, could play a role there, Ayatollah Shirazi said, “We have a shared religion, a shared language, and a sahred history with the Afghans and naturally the presence of a safe and secure neighbor by their side can contribute to both countries’ economic improvement.”

He said that a part of the problems in Afghanistan are due to the narcotic drugs, adding, “If our two governments would be well wishers of Afghanistan, we would both contribute to Afghanistan’s getting rid of the major problem of narcotic drugs.”

He said that although in the past there were some disputes between the Shi’a and Sunni Muslims in Afghanistan, but in the present Afghan government there are Shi’a and Sunni ministers, and they have good interactions. What we can do, is to have more contacts with them and contribute to the establishment of a greater extent of peace and stability there.

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