Ayatollah Taskhiri: Russia has opportunity to approach world of Islam

Sept. 30–An Iranian official said on Saturday that Russia today has a golden opportunity to approach the Muslim world, since the two need each other.
Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Taskhiri, head of the World Assembly for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thoughts, who is currently in the island of Rhodes in eastern Greece to attend the 14th International Conference on “Dialogue Among Civilizations“ (Sept. 27-Oct. 1), made the remark while talking to reporters, IRNA reported.
“Today, Muslims worldwide hate the US and some western states, and Russia can mediate to fill such a gap by establishing rational ties between the West and the Muslim world,“ he said.
Referring to Russia as a neighbor of the Muslim world and an observer state at the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), he said that given its Muslim population of 20 million and favorable cooperation with Muslim states, Russia can get closer to Islam.
Asked about the world’s first female space tourist, the Iran-born American Anousheh Ansari, Taskhiri said, “The success of any Iranian, particularly in scientific fields, makes us happy.“
He pointed to the event’s inherent message that science is considered the means for human progress as well as development of affection and friendship.
Commenting on the ongoing conference at Rhodes, Taskhiri stressed that Dialogue Among Civilizations and intellectuals of the world are “very effective and fruitful“.
“During such gatherings, views are exchanged, various dimensions of stances of participants are explained and common points in different areas are specified,“ he said.
The five-day event is attended by 560 social and religious figures from 26 countries, including Iran, Russia, Greece, Uzbekistan, India and Yemen.
Major cultural and scientific topics, including civilizations and their development, immigration, inter-faith dialogue for a better society, education and youth as well as the role of Internet in social affairs, are on the conference’s agenda.