TEHRAN — President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran said on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic seeking to “eliminate poverty and corruption” and counter “insecurity and instability” in the Islamic world.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the 35th International Conference on Islamic Unity, Raisi also said, “We press the hand of all Islamic countries and all those who care for religion, people and Islamic Ummah and insist on this friendship.” 

Suggesting that the Islamic Ummah should be united, the cleric president said “the idea of proximity and unity of the Islamic Ummah, which is emphasized by the late Imam Khomeini and the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, is a strategic and necessary move in the Islamic world."

The Islamic unity conference is being held annually by Iran. It is held on the birth anniversary of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). The conference, which started on October 19 will run until October 24. Prominent scholars from 52 countries are attending and addressing the conference. 

Raisi also praised the performance of Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Taskhiri for fostering unity among the Islamic nations.

Raisi lauds Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Ayatollah Taskhiri for fostering unity among the Islamic nations.
 
"Martyr Qassem Soleimani took practical measures in the Islamic world, and these measures along with the scientific actions of Ayatollah Takhiri, the former secretary-general of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought (WFPIST), were very effective in removing doubts and creating unity among the Islamic Ummah,” President Raisi remarked. 

Gen. Soleimani, the legendary commander in the fight against terrorist groups, including Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/IS), was assassinated in a U.S. terrorist attack in January 2020 near Baghdad’s international airport.
 
Raisi went on to say that the Islamic world must be dynamic.

"One of the important elements of being ummah is to have a common goal, movement and dynamism, and the ummah must not stand still. What we perceive from the term ‘ummah’ is the movement, and the ummah must follow the Prophet of Islam. The sole purpose of the ummah is liberation from the domineering system,” the President suggested.

The president also stated that after the polarization of the world after the Second World War and the unipolarity of the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Islam was the sole power against the hegemonic system. 

"Today, we are witnessing creation of divisions and conspiracies by the enemies of Islam in all countries of the region, including Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Yemen, and we must all try to protect the Islamic Ummah in the face of these conspiracies," Raisi pointed out.

Raisi went on to say that the hegemonic system tries to weaken the components of the power of the Islamic Ummah by casting doubt and dividing the Islamic Ummah through media campaign, but efficient manpower and scientists and scholars are the greatest driving force, source of power and opportunity of the Islamic Ummah to stand against the conspiracies of the enemies of the unity and solidarity of the Islamic Ummah.

Referring to the Western lifestyle, the President said: "If in the past a young man wished to be in the Western cultural space, today he feels he has to stand on his own two feet."

Pointing to the Americans' acknowledgment in helping to create Daesh, he said the Islamic Ummah has comes to senses. 

He also pointed to the remarks by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution who have said the savagery of Daesh is like those of the Zionist regime of Israel.  

"At first, some people did not understand Daesh correctly. At that time, the Supreme Leader of the Revolution said that the nature of Daesh was the nature of the Zionists, and it turned out that they had American and Zionist backgrounds, and the United States officially announced that we had created Daesh.” 

He added, “Today, we are witnessing conspiracies in Lebanon and Afghanistan that are important to understand. The enlightenment by the ulema about the conspiracies is to immunize the youth of Islam.”

He said the unity conference is very important and “there must be a proper understanding of the conspiracies and deviations.”

The remarks by president at the Muslim unity conference comes as within a week several dozens of Afghan worshippers were massacred in northern and southern Afghanistan.