Iran’s Judiciary Chief Criticizes Growing Islamophobia in West


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani slammed attacks on Muslims and Islamic sites in the West, underlining the need for Western governments to ensure security for followers of the religion.

“In Western countries, which claim (to be advocates of) freedom and human rights, Islamophobia is constantly promoted and day after day attacks on Muslims and their religious sites intensify,” Ayatollah Amoli Larijani said in a meeting of senior Judiciary officials in Tehran on Monday.

Stressing that continuation of such anti-Muslim violence is absolutely unacceptable, the official said security of Muslims in Western countries must be ensured by the governments of those countries.

“Criminal acts committed by a few terrorists calling themselves Muslim have nothing to do with Islam,” the senior cleric underscored, adding that no Muslim should face insecurity in Western countries because of such acts of terrorism.

He said the Islamic Republic of Iran is proud to have provided and guaranteed security for followers of divine religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, noting that followers of these faiths, like their Muslim fellow countrymen, live in peace and freedom in Iran and that Western countries should follow Iran’s example in this regard.

Ayatollah Amoli Larijani further referred to the West’s atrocities in regional countries such as Syria and Palestine and expressed the hope that in the new Gregorian calendar year of 2017, Western rulers, by truly following the teachings of Jesus Christ (AS), stop those crimes and take steps for the happiness of their own people and the rest of the world.