Sunday, February 19, 2012

Fars News (Iran): "Minister Stresses Iran's Respect for All Religious Minorities"

Tell that to the Baha'is:
Iranian Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Seyed Mohammad Hosseini underlined the Islamic Republic's respect and support for the rights of all religious minorities living in Iran.

Hosseini referred to the rights of religious minorities in Iran, and added that in Iran, the religious minorities have representatives at the parliament.

He further underlined that commonalties of different religions should be identified and introduced.

Hosseini made the remarks in a meeting with followers of monotheist religions in Tehran on Saturday night, stressing that the amicable and cordial relations among the followers of monotheistic religions in Islamic Iran is one of the honors of the sacred Islamic Republic.

In relevant remarks in 2010, Vice-Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi Fard had also reiterated the Islamic Republic's respect for religious minorities, and said that minorities in Iran enjoy the same rights that Muslims have even in legislating laws for the country.

"Representatives of the religious minorities enjoy equal rights with other lawmakers in the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament) in Iran," Aboutorabi Fard said in a meeting here in Tehran at the time with the Patriarch Cardinal of the Chaldean and Assyrian Catholic Church of Iraq.

He said that based on Islamic guidelines, all religious minorities in Iran are free to observe their religious duties, and they also enjoy the right to choose their own favorite MPs from among their own religious brethrens.
Armenians get two representatives, other religions get one MP, and Baha'is don't get anything, according to Wikipedia. And, of course, "senior government posts are reserved for Muslims." Besides that, converts to Islam "inherit the entire share of their parents' (or even uncle's) estate if their siblings (or cousins) remain non-Muslim." According to other propaganda at Fars, Israel was behind recent attacks on its own diplomats:
A senior Iranian diplomat blasted Israel for its baseless allegations about Iran's involvement in the recent terrorist attacks, and said the regime itself is the main suspect behind the blasts.

"If we follow the issue closely and wisely, we'll find out who is behind the scenario," Iranian Ambassador to Thailand Majid Bizmark said in an interview with the local daily the Nation, adding that the main suspect is the Zionists (Israelis). [...]
It is hard having to be both sides of all conflicts . . .

Update: Iran's PressTV now has an article featuring a video-interview entitled "‘Israeli claims of democracy absurd.’" As are US, British, and French claims, we learn.

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