TEHRAN – Iranian President Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, who traveled to New York to participate in the UN General Assembly, met with a number of leaders of divine religions.

The meeting took place on Tuesday evening local time. In the meeting, he said the common point of all of us, followers of the divine religions, is worshipping God, adding, "Let's put attention to God as a common principle of divine religions," according to a statement put out by the Iranian presidency. 

Stating that all believers in divine religions agree on the point that a society without God and belief in the origin and resurrection creates destruction for mankind, not growth and prosperity, he added, "Humanity faces two bloody and catastrophic world wars and 70 years of oppression of the Palestinian people as a part of the examples of excluding God from the field of society administration, so it is necessary to consider the belief in God alongside all decision-making".

Pointing out that the unity of divine religions does not mean that people give up their religion, Ayatollah Raisi said, "Unity does not mean that the followers of different religions give up their religion, but it means we should emphasise the points of commonality, especially worshipping God, and put aside differences".

The Iranian president described worshipping God and attention to divine laws as the biggest obstacle in the path of arrogance, self-centeredness and desire to dominate others, and clarified, "The basis of oppression in the world is due to arrogance and self-aggrandisement, and the way to refrain from it is to pay attention to divine laws".

Ayatollah Raisi stated that the right to social life does not mean that someone has the right to impose his personal wishes and perceptions on others, and pointed out, "Domination is one of the manifestations of atheism, which deprives other people of the opportunity to think".

 President Raisi described monotheism and justice as two pillars emphasised and accepted by all divine religions, and said, "It is in the light of justice that man can live a healthy, safe and easy life. According to Imam Muhammad Baqir (PBUH), when a person has correctly adjusted his relationship with himself, with God, with others, with existence and nature, he can be on the path to perfection".

He stated that today, along with the spread of atheism, the tendency towards religion has also spread a lot, especially among young people, and clarified, "The spread of spirituality among societies is a responsibility for the leaders of the divine religions, and the leaders of the divine religions should be careful and serious about the occurrence of ani conflict between divine religions".

 Raisi considered the conflict between divine religions as the cause of the erosion of religions and the spread of atheism in societies, and noted, "Instead of conflict and elimination, we should propose and establish an intellectual dialogue between religions, so that the opinions of the followers of different religions can become closer with each other".

Referring to the scourge of attacking religion under the guise of religiosity throughout history, the President added, "ISIS committed terrible crimes in the name of God and with its flag in the name of God and the Messenger of God (PBUH) that no religious and free person approves of".

Ayatollah Raisi added, "If we want generations to be inclined towards religion, we must be sensitive to oppression and violation of human rights".

Referring to the huge and unique Arbaeen march, the President said, "This march commemorates the symbol of oppression and standing against oppression, a symbol that showed humanity that if there is silence in the face of oppression, corruption and oppression will cover the whole society".

At the end of his speech, Ayatollah Raisi announced the readiness of the Islamic Republic to host a meeting of dialogue between divine religions and said, "I also suggest that you continue holding these meetings as an opportunity for mutual thinking and synergy to solve the problems and knots of contemporary human life".

President Raisi arrived in New York at noon on Monday local time to attend the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.

Speaking to reporters upon his arrival in the United States, Raisi described the visit as an opportunity to voice the views and opinions of the Islamic Republic, emphasizing, “The United Nations should be the organization of the nations, not the organization of powerful administrations.”

He described attending the UNGA as a desired platform for discussing the problems of today's world and finding collective solutions to solve them.

Raisi then went on to describe the oppressive and coercive sanctions as a tactic of major world powers to put pressure on other nations, noting, “Sanctions are detrimental to nations and are in conflict with peace and security.”