Western Islamophobia would not help fight terrorism

Morteza Sarmadi and Finish Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Lenita Anneli Toivakka met on Wednesday in Tehran, where Iranian side emphasized upon common positions of both countries on terrorism and extremism; “terrorism is not limited to a specific region and would spread across the world,” said Mr. Sarmadi, who was commenting on recent remarks by a US runners for presidential elections who had boldly suggested that Muslims should be banned from entering the US. “Islamphobia would not help fight terrorism; rather, it would provide excellent pretexts for violent groups to recruit fresh believers to their destructive ideology,” said the deputy-foreign minister.

Finish minister for her part said that spread of terrorism into EU posed a real threat to the world; “all countries should cooperate on fighting terrorism; refugee and migrant crisis are crucial in accurate understanding of the issue in finding a solution considering its roots and consequences,” Toivakka said.

On mutual economic relations, Sarmadi emphasized that Iran and Finland should improve the level of cooperation; “increasing number of trade delegations frequenting both countries would help expand economic relations,” he told his Finish guest.

Finish minister also said that the present delegation is the largest ever delegation visiting Iran; “we had good negotiations with Iranian partners in energy, forestry, and medicine and health sectors,” she added.