Iranian President Hassan Rouhani underlined Tehran and Jakarta's abundant commonalities, specially in religious fields, and asked for the two countries' cooperation in campaign against terrorism.
"Iran and Indonesia have incurred a heavy cost in fighting terrorism and extremism and in the current turbulent world they can introduce the real and moderate Islam which is against the ominous phenomenon of terrorism and violence," Rouhani said in a meeting with Indonesian President's Special Envoy for the Middle-East Alawi Shahab in Tehran on Sunday.
He also underlined Iran's enthusiasm for the further expansion of ties and cooperation with Indonesia in different fields, specially in cultural, political and economic areas, and said, "Iran and Indonesia as two Muslim and Asian states which are also members of international circles, including the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), can play a competent role in improving regional and international issues by relying on their commonalities."
Shahab, for his part, stressed his country's preparedness for the expansion of relations with Iran, and said, "The Indonesian people adore the Islamic Revolution in Iran and are a nation who have and will resist against the arrogant powers and the hegemony of the big powers."
In relevant remarks in November, Indonesian Ambassador to Tehran Dian Wirengjurit announced that his country and Iran were making their all-out efforts to combat extremism and terrorism in the region.
The Indonesian ambassador made the remarks in a meeting with Deputy Head of Iran's Islamic Culture and Relations Organization Seyed Mohammad Hossein Hashemi in Tehran.
Wirengjurit reiterated that Indonesia and Iran played a crucial role in the war on terrorism in the region, and said that the two countries were closely cooperating to fight against the foreign-backed terrorists in the region.
Iranian and Indonesian officials on different occasions have underlined the need for eradication of violence and extremism around the world.
In March 2014, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa extended their full support for international efforts aimed at the dismantlement of atomic weapons, eradication of violence and violation of human rights around the world.
During a meeting between Zarif and Natalegawa in Jakarta, the two top diplomats discussed the outstanding regional and international issues, and called for closer ties between Tehran and Jakarta to prepare the ground for nuclear disarmament, creating nuclear-weapons-free zones, countering threats and coercion as well as following up on the “World Against Violence and Extremism (WAVE)” initiative, which has been unanimously endorsed as a UN resolution.
On December 18, 2013, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to approve Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s WAVE proposal, which calls on all nations across the globe to denounce violence and extremism. The Iranian president had made the proposal in his address to the UN Disarmament Conference in New York on September 25, 2013.
Under the UN resolution adopted in accordance with the WAVE proposal, the General Assembly would urge member states to take “appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace and to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character”.
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