TEHRAN -- President Mohammad Khatami said here on Tuesday that art should be used to promote peace in a world of today which is filled with chaos and hostilities and is under constant threats by terroristic events.

Addressing a gathering of artists and officials in charge of the Sacred Defense Music Festival, he said that the art of sacred defense should be consistent with its objectives.

Pointing to monotheistic beliefs in eternal life and healthy life in the material world, he said, "The main objective of our combatants during sacred defense was to survive and fight against aggression and violence, rather than killing or being killed.

They believed that once they were martyred they would achieve eternal life.

"Sacred defense among the followers of monotheistic belief is distinct from war. Given that war, in the course of history, has always been aimed at annihilation of the enemy, sacred defense is quite different from war by being aimed mainly at repelling aggressors and securing prosperity for the people," he underlined.

Referring to the public resistance during the sacred defense era, the president said that the `sacred defense' made aggressors and war criminals to become cautious and not to think of launching attacks against other nations, including the mighty land of Iran.

President Khatami pointed to Iran's decent and ethical cinema and its achievements worldwide and stressed, "In the sacred defense cinema, the hero is a humble, pious man prepared to sacrifice himself to protect others, rather than killing and being killed.