Iranian President Asks Int'l Community to Show Reaction to Crimes against Myanmar Muslims

Rasa - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned the crimes committed by the Myanmar government and army against the Muslims, and urged the world community to show firm reaction to such crimes.

News ID: 432491

Date: 17 September 2017 - 23:35

RNA - "The Myanmar issue is highly catastrophic and unfortunate and is among the rare crimes in history and everyone should be sensitive to this catastrophe and condemn the acts by Myanmar government and army and help the displaced people," President Rouhani told reporters before leaving Tehran for New York on Sunday to participate in the annual UN General Assembly meeting.

Noting that he will meet the leaders of Belgium, Sweden, Austria, France, Britain, Japan, Pakistan, South Africa and Bolivia during the trip, he said, "We will have negotiations on bilateral ties, regional issues, the nuclear deal and issues related to other parts of the world, including Myanmar."

President Rouhani stressed that Iran wants to have extensive and constructive relations with the world states, and added, "The regional problems don’t have military solutions and should be resolved through political means and the issue of terrorism should be resolved by all countries."

In relevant remarks last Tuesday, Iranian Government Spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht vowed his country's utmost efforts to stop massacre and suppression of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has always shown that it defends the world's innocent and suppressed people, and the president (Hassan Rouhani) tried during his visit to Kazakhstan (for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit) to make other countries sensitive in this regard," Nobakht told reporters in Tehran.

"We will use all our diplomatic capacities in this regard," he added.

Nobakht also lambasted the international bodies for not showing a proper reaction to the human catastrophe in Myanmar.

His remarks came after Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei strongly blasted the international bodies and those who claim to be advocates of human rights for silence on the plights and pains of Muslims in Myanmar, and called on the Islamic countries to adopt practical measures against the Myanmar government.

"Of course, religious prejudice may play a role in this incident but it is a political issue because it is executed by the Myanmar government which is headed by a cruel woman who has won the Nobel prize, and actually the Nobel Peace Prize died with such incidents," Ayatollah Khamenei said last Tuesday.

He lashed out at the UN secretary-general who has only sufficed to the condemnation of the crimes in Myanmar, and said, "Those who claim to be advocates of human rights and start hues and cries sometimes for punishment of a guilty person in Iran, don’t show any reaction to the massacre and displacement of tens of thousands of people in Myanmar."

Ayatollah Khamenei underlined the need for the Islamic governments' action and practical measures, and said, "Of course, practical action doesn’t mean deployment of military forces but they should increase political, economic and trade pressures on Myanmar government and shout against such crimes in the international circles."

The Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have long been subjected to discrimination in Buddhist-majority country, which denies them citizenship.

Myanmar's government regards them as illegal migrants from Bangladesh, even if they have lived in the country for generations.

Refugee camps near Bangladesh's border with Myanmar already had about 300,000 Rohingya before the upsurge in violence last month and are now overwhelmed.

Tens of thousands of new arrivals have nowhere to shelter from monsoon rains.

Those flocking into Bangladesh have given harrowing accounts of killings, rape and arson by Myanmar's army. Myanmar authorities deny any wrongdoing.

Most have walked for days and the UN says many are sick, exhausted and in desperate need of shelter.

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