Ayatollah Mojtahed-Shabestari meets with the official of Georgian city of Marneuli

Rasa – The head of the Ahlul-Bayt World Assembly visited the Muslim-majority Georgian city of Marneuli with a group of religious of and parliamentary officials of the Caucasian country.

News ID: 432479

Date: 19 September 2017 - 01:16

RNA – Sayyed Javad Qavam-Shahidi, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Georgia, as well as the head of the Georgian Muslim Office and the head of the city council, the mayor and other city officials from Marneuli as well as the representative of the Georgian Parliament met with Ayatollah Mohsen Mojtahed-Shabestari, the head of the Ahlul-Bayt World Assembly.

Marneuli is a small city in the Kvemo-Kartli region of southern Georgia and is near the border with Azerbaijan and Armenia. About 84 percent of Georgians belong to the Georgian Orthodox Church and about 10.7 are Muslims.

The representative of Kvemo-Kartli in Georgia’s parliament, Ruslan Hajiyev, described this visit as a sign of the friendship and interest of the two countries in expanding relations.

He added that in Marneuli, where about 85 percent of the population is Muslim, religious ceremonies are held in complete freedom.

Other officials present at the meeting also referred to the diversity of ethnic groups, religions and the freedom for various sects in Georgia and in the city of Marneuli is a sign of respect for various religions, especially Islam.

They added that the visit of Iranian religious authorities to Georgia, which was carried out with the support of the Iranian embassy in Georgia, is a sign of friendship between the two countries.

Ambassador Qavam-Shahidi said Ayatollah Mojtahed-Shabestari’s visit to Georgia alongside important political and cultural officials demonstrates the importance of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Georgia and the relations between the two countries.

He thanked them for their excellent interactions with the scholars and Muslims.

Tehran’s ambassador to Tbilisi added that Iran’s embassy will carry out necessary coordination with Georgia in the near future with the aim of having a group of Georgian parliamentarians visit Iran.

He said, “We are seeking to expand and develop the extensive economic and commercial activities between the two countries and also to expand and develop the existing good cultural relations and to offer Iranian goods to the Georgian market.”

Ayatollah Mojtahed-Shabestari also appreciated the officials of Marneuli and said that their good interactions had made the city famous as a religious and Muslim city and noted, “True Islam, in which there is no violence and terror, must be propagated both verbally and in practice. Daesh and the like, only use the name of Islam and Muslims, but they are not Muslims.”

He added, “God calls the people of the book to unity, morality and virtue and to promote peace. During the time of the Prophet of Islam, no war was never started by Muslims and they had a defensive status and Islam is a religion of kindness and kindness.”

The head of the Ahlul-Bayt World Assembly traveled to Georgia with the head of the Caucasian country’s head of religious affairs and also spoke at the academic conferences on Ghadir Khumm and Ashura with the presence of a number of religious authorities, scholars and religious scholars.

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