The leaders of over 50 Muslim nations have on Friday accused the Islamic Republic of Iran of aiding terrorism and interfering in the internal affairs of regional states including Syria and Yemen.
This disclosure was contained in a statement issued during a summit attended in Istanbul this week.
The summit which was organised by the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss a range of issues such as the humanitarian fall-out from Syria’s civil war also had Iran’s leader President Hassan Rouhani in attendance.
The communiqué read:-
“The Conference deplored Iran’s interference in the internal affairs of the States of the region and other Member States including Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, and Somalia, and its continued support for terrorism.”
It also emphasized the need for “cooperative relations” between Iran and other Muslim countries, including refraining from the use or threat of force.
Reuters reports that both Turkey, which has assumed the three-year rotating presidency of the OIC, and Saudi Arabia are part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State militants in Syria and are also opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, a stance that has put them at odds with Iran, an ally of the Syrian leader.
Shi’ite Iran is also allied with the Houthi movement in Yemen, which has been battling forces loyal to Yemen’s Saudi-backed president in a conflict that has killed more than 6,000 people since March 2015.
The final communiqué came a day after Iran’s President Rouhani urged summit delegates to avoid sending out divisive messages.
“No message which would fuel division in the Islamic community should come out of the conference,” said Mr. Rouhani, according to Iranian state television.
No comments:
Post a Comment