Religion

Iranian rights official says members of religious minorities no different than other Iranians

Secretary of Iran’s Human Rights Council Kazem Gharibabadi says members of religious minorities in the country are in fact part of the Iranian population as a whole.

Gharibabadi made the remark in a meeting with Mar Awa III, the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, and an accompanying delegation in Tehran on Monday.

“As a matter of fact, there is no such thing as religious minorities in Iran, because followers of these faiths constitute the majority of the Iranian society alongside Muslims and are all parts of the same body,” Gharibabadi said. “Religious minorities have fought and laid down their lives for this country.”

Mar Awa III said the two religions of Islam and Christianity both stress human dignity and human rights and Assyrians are “Iran’s true children and true to Iran.”

He also thanked Iranians for their hospitality.
The Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East earlier in the day met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

In that meeting, Mar Awa III said that the presence of representatives of different religions within the Iranian government indicated its respect for divine religions.

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