Religion

Iran’s Guardian Council stonewalled the formation of an experienced parliament in the country and now its decisions have come home to roost in the form of a highly controversial Hijab and Chastity bill, a religious scholar and researcher says.

Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution says Muslim nations should increase the political pressure on Israel and its main supporter, the United States, to stop the killing of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, in a phone call with the Pope, has strongly condemned the massacre of Palestinian women and children by the Israeli regime in its onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip, describing it as “the biggest genocide of the century".

The religious leader of Jews in Iran, Rabbai Youne Hamami Lalehzar emphasized that the Jewish faith does not advocate the occupation of Jerusalem.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahianin wrote a letter to Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, and stressed that supporting and defending the rights and lives of the Palestinian people is the duty of all followers of the Abrahamic religions.

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Permanent Mission in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah has sent an official letter to the secretariat of the organization, announcing Tehran’s readiness to host an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of the organization on Palestine.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the current developments in Palestine, especially in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei lashed out at the countries seeking to normalize ties with the Israeli regime, warning they are betting on the losing side.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has condemned the insulting, again, of the holy Quran in Sweden.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has deplored terrorist bombings at two mosques in Pakistan, stressing Tehran is firmly ready to counter extremism in all its forms. At least 60 people were killed and scores injured in two blasts in religious ceremonies in the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has strongly deplored the desecration of the Holy Quran in the Netherlands, urging Amsterdam to stop the provocative Islamophobic acts.

Addressing the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has expressed concern about recent incidents of desecrating of Quran, calling for special protection for religious books.

Grief reigns supreme across Iran on Saturday as mourners commemorate the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Reza, the eighth Shiite Imam.

Iran’s northeastern holy city of Mashhad is mourning for the passing away anniversary of the revered Prophet Muhammad and the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hassan Mojtaba, the second Shia Imam.

Chairman of the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri has expressed his gratitude to the head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Unit (PMU), known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, and the Chief of the Joint Staff of the Iraqi Armed Forces for providing security for the Arbaeen march.

A large crowd of black-clad mourners, who couldn’t make it to this year’s Arbaeen walk towards Karbala, held a rally in the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday to mark the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein, the third Shia Imam.

Iran’s Interior Minister said nearly 4 million pilgrims have left Iran to visit Karbala in neighboring Iraq, with over 2.3 million having already returned.

The chief commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) visited the Shalamcheh border with Iraq on Friday to check the transit of Arbaeen pilgrims to the Iraqi holy shrine city of Karbala.

The Danish government says it plans to ban Quran burnings after a string of desecrations of Islam’s holy book in the Scandinavian nation sparked anger in Muslim countries.

Iran’s foreign minister says the Islamic countries will follow up on the decision to boycott the Danish and Swedish goods following the continued desecration of Islamic sanctities in the two European countries.

The Swedish and Danish chargés d'affaires in Tehran were called to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in protest at the repeated desecration of the Holy Quran.

About 200 terrorists had infiltrated into Iran to carry out attacks during Arbaeen ceremonies that mark the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of the third Shia Imam, but Iranian security and intelligence forces defused the scheme, intelligence minister says.

The United Nations Security Council has condemned in the strongest terms the "heinous and cowardly terrorist" attack on the Shah Cheragh shrine in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz.

Iraq's most prominent Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has stressed the significance of peaceful coexistence, calling for concerted efforts to reject violence and promote respect among followers of various faiths.

Pope Francis has denounced as “barbaric” the recent Quran burnings in Sweden and Denmark. He has stressed that such blasphemous moves prevent dialog among nations.