Rafsanjani Warns against Repercussions of Violence, Extremism

(FNA)- Chairman of Iran's Expediency Council (EC) Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani called on the Muslim nations to be vigilant about enemies' divisive plots which have led the region to violence, extremism, and terrorism.

Hashemi Rafsanjani said that extremism damages the moderate and peaceful nature of Islam and can be used as a tool to provoke Islamophobia.

He underlined that people in Afghanistan, Libya and Egypt tried to overthrow their countries' totalitarian regimes but now sectarianism, violence and extremism have engulfed them.

The first international conference of the World Against Violence and Extremism (WAVE) was held in Tehran on December 9-10.

The WAVE conference came in the aftermath of a last year proposal by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during his address to the UN General Assembly meeting in New York on September 25, 2013, which received the approval of the UNGA after being endorsed by an overwhelming majority of the member states on December 18, 2013.

Yesterday and during his address to the opening of the 1st WAVE conference in Tehran, President Rouhani proposed that December 18 be named as the International Day against Violence and Extremism.

The participants in the Tehran conference welcomed the proposal in their final statement, and underscored the necessity for the world states, politicians and religious leaders to condemn terrorism, violence and extremism in all forms.