Rouhani Urges World States to Unite Against Terrorism

Dushanbe – President Hassan Rouhani of Iran urged world states here Thursday to unite against terrorism and extremism and work hand in hand in a collective move.

The Iranian President made the remarks in a meeting with Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Dmitry Fyodorovich Mezentsev.

President Rouhani is in Tajikistan to attend the 14th summit meeting of the SCO.

“The fight against terrorism is not an easy and short time job and requires a collective determination,” said the President.

Therefore, he added, such fight needs a firm political will and a joint regional and international cooperation.”

“All should believe that existence of a terrorist group will benefit no one,” President Rouhani stressed, urging all SCO member and supervisor states to fulfill their duties to protect regional stability.

Meanwhile, the SCO secretary general said that the body attaches importance to the Iranian President’s stances on fight against terrorism and extremism.

Mezentsev added it is highly crucial for the SCO to cooperate with Iran on various economic and cultural fields as well as regional security and stability.

He hoped that the upcoming 14th summit of the SCO would take a major step in maintaining regional stability and security.

President Rouhani is to address the summit on Friday.

The SCO is a Eurasian inter-governmental organization which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The Organization has currently six full members. Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, and India are observer states and SCO’s dialogue partners include Belarus, Sri Lanka, and Turkey.

Honesty of international coalition against Daesh under question, says Afkham

Meanwhile in Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maziyeh Afkham said on Thursday thatthere are serious ambiguities in the real intention of an emerging so-called international coalition against the terrorist group of Daesh (also know as ISIS).

Formation of an international coalition against Daesh terrorists was raised by the US at the end of the NATO summit in Wales, Britain. “There are doubts about seriousness of the coalition which has come to existence after the NATO summit, in its fight against terrorists,” Afkham told reporters here.

She argued that certain members of the so-called coalition are among financial and security supporters of terrorists in Iraq and Syria and some others have failed to act according to their international responsibility vis-à-vis Iraq and Syria hoping to create political changes in those countries.

Criticizing long history of West’s double standards and selective use of terrorism and extremism, Afkham said the trend had “no result but the spread of terrorism and extremism as well as emergence of their new branches in different parts of the world.”

She urged Western states “to avoid making such gestures and halt their political exploitations as well as their double standard policies and try to prove their honesty in waging a collective and massive war against terrorism and extremism if they really are afraid of increasing spread of terrorism” worldwide.

Afkham also commented on a recent statement by a spokesperson of the US State Department who had said during Iran-US bilateral talks in Geneva, the two side also discussed the issue of Daesh terrorist group.

“In talks with the American side, no issue has been discussed expect that of nuclear program. The issue of Daesh was only mentioned by the US delegation,” Afkham added.

IRNA

R.S