Tehran, Iran, September 20
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for sectarian tolerance and amity in a region of rampant extremism and hatred.
“Any kind of insult to the Sunni elite will in fact make it impossible to hear the logical, well-founded bases for believing in the Imamah (religious, spiritual and political leadership of the Islamic nation),” he said.
Khamenei made a public speech on the occasion of the Shia celebration of Eid al-Ghadeer, which glorifies the nomination of the first Shia Imam, Ayatollah Khamenei’s official website reported September 20.
“It is in fact an English version of Shiism to agitate the sentiments of other Islamic sects under the name of Shia, which will result in the formation of such vile groups and hirelings of the US and the British (Secret) Intelligence Service as Daesh (the Islamic State, aka IS, ISIS, ISIL) and Al-Nusrah (Front), which have committed many a crime and wrought much havoc in the region.”
The terrorist group IS took great swathes of land to the west of Iran in Iraq and Syria in 2014 and continues to be a threat to the regional countries, including Iran.
Iranian officials dismiss the IS for misusing religion to attain political and economic goals through extreme acts of terror.