Peace, a Serious Concern of All Religions

Deputy Minister of the Culture and Islamic Guidance for Cultural Affairs Dr. Seyyed Abbas Salehi said the issue of peace has been always a serious concern for all religions in particular the divine ones, AVA Diplomatic reports.

Addressing the “Scientific-Cultural Seminar on the Occasion of the International Day of Peace” at the Iranian Centre for International Conferences (ICIC) on 21 September 2015, he said peace and its comprehensive meaning, has been one the fundamental messages of all religions.

“Unfortunately at this specific juncture we witness a wrong interpretation of religions in particular an unfavorable understanding of Islam which promotes fanaticism instead of dialogue or propagates excommunication instead of healthy relations,” he said.

From left to right: Secretary of IISA, Dr. Zieoddin Sabouri, Deputy Minister of the Culture and Islamic Guidance for Cultural Affairs Dr. Seyyed Abbas Salehi, and Head of IISA Dr. Arslan Qorbani

The one-day seminar was organized by the Iranian International Studies Association and Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) in partnership with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Tehran and the UNESCO Cluster Office in Tehran.

More than 90 representatives of the government, diplomatic corps, international organizations, scholars, university professors and students as well as journalists, representatives of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), UNAIDS and UN Office on Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and UNESCO Cluster Office participated in the conference.

UNIC Public Information Officer Ms. Maria Dotsenko read the United Nations Secretary-General’s message on the International Day of Peace for the audience.

The Secretary-General of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO Dr. Sadollhal Nasiri said UNESCO promotes peace through science, cultural and education in the minds of every person

Director of Office and Representative to Iran and Turkmenistan Ms. Esther Kuisch Laroch read the UNESCO Director General’s message. “Solidarity and dialogue are the strongest foundations for peace, guided by equality, respect and mutual understanding”, she said.

Other speakers, Secretary of IISA Dr. Zieoddin Sabouri, Director General of IPIS Mostafa Zahrani, Secretary of Scientific Associations’ Commission Dr. Mahmoud Sadeghi and Head of IISA Dr. Arslan Qorbani also elaborated on different concepts of peace.

The seminar also held four scientific and expert panel discussions on the subject of “extremism, regional geo-political developments and security of the Middle East”.