Iranian President Urges Action against Cultural Roots of Terrorism

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for concerted action by all regional countries to tackle the cultural roots of terrorism.

“We must join hands to show the real image of Islam to the world and help remove the cancerous tumor of terrorism from the region,” President Rouhani stressed.

He made the comments in a meeting of high-ranking officials of Iran and Kyrgyzstan, held in Tehran on Saturday.

Referring to the acts of terrorism in the region, President Rouhani decried the “evil, anti-Islam murderers” that falsely claim to be followers of Islam, and even benefit from the backing of certain powers that are enemies of Islam.

Elsewhere in the gathering, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev also expressed concern about the terrorist activities across the region.

He said terrorist groups the have been created by the Western intelligence services have a mission to tarnish the image of Islam.

Atambayev voiced his country’s willinginess to cooperate with Iran in the battle against terrorism.

The Kyrgyz president arrived in Iran late Friday at the invitation of President Rouhani. A high-ranking delegation of Kyrgyz officials are accompanying Atambayev in the trip.

In a ceremony earlier in the day, Iran and Kyrgyzstan signed eight Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) to promote mutual cooperation.