(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Taskhiri, Secretary General of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, attending the eighth meeting on Religion and Human Rights in Moscow, expressed regrets over emigration of the Christians from the Middle East, particularly Iraq, Syria and Egypt.He referred to the pressure imposed against Christians, by some Salafi (Wahhabi) extremists, to abandon their homelands and said, “We hope that the issue is handled through empowerment of Mohammad Morsi, Egyptian President-elect, who is a wise and moderate politician, moderate policies of Iraqi Prime Minister, Noori al-Maliki and resistance of the Syrian officials against the opposition forces.”Secretary General of Iranian Muslim unity center expressed hope that prevalence of security and peace in the Middle East motivates the Christians, who have inhabited the region throughout history, to come back and that nations comprising united Muslims and Christians would struggle for prosperity of this region.Iranian Muslim scholar also explained the cooperation between Muslim and Christian communities in Iran and referred to the freedom of the Iranian Christians.He said the majority of Christians in Iran are Armenians who are represented by a member in Iran’s Parliament.Eighth meeting on Religion and Human Rights of the Joint Russian-Iranian Commission for Orthodoxy-Islam Dialogue was held at the Patriarchal Chambers in Moscow. /129
