Hojjatoleslam Ali Younesi, who was speaking to a meeting of Sunnis in the provincial governorate conference hall, Kermanshah, on Saturday, said that in the past, “many attempts had been waged to divide the unity and solidarity; however, national unity had aborted these misguided attempts,” Younesi told the meeting.
He cited one of the objectives of the government was to address the general concerns of the Kurds in the region. “These concerns are not specific to particular ethnicity and religion, and the government is responsible to address and meet all these needs,” he added.
Younesi emphasized that extremist groups inflicted Islam with greatest amount of damage. “In Iraq, they are neither Shiite, nor Sunnis, but the number-one enemy of both only spreading violence and hatred, with the aim of displaying a bad image of Islam to the world,” he said.
Younesi explained the position taken by the government on the minorities rights. “The government considers all groups, either majority or minority, as equally entitled to their constitutional rights. A year after the government assumed power, people have been more hopeful about the future. The government saved the people from the desperate situation they had been in the past years,” he said.
He also demanded recognition and protection of all religious groups in the country. “We see a good atmosphere in Kermanshah, and despite the plurality of different faiths, they lead a peaceful coexistence exemplary in itself through unity and solidarity,” said the president’s assistant.