Parliament Speaker Visits Iranian Project In Sudan

Khartoum, Jan 23, IRNA – IRI Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani here Monday visited a bridge construction project over the Niles River, implemented by an Iranian engineering firm. According to an IRNA dispatched reporter, Ali Ardeshir-Larijani in the course of the visit heard a report on the process of progress of the project from the Iranian officials of it and was briefed on the construction and implementing the project. The bridge over the Niles River would connect the Sudanese capital city with Sudanˈs Parrot Island. The Islamic Parliament Speaker is in Khartoum to participate at the Islamic Countries Inter-Parliamentary Union at the Sudanese capital city. Larijani is accompanied by a number of parliament members and the Deputy Foreign Minister in Consular, Parliamentary and Patriot Iranians Affairs Hassan Qashqavi in this visit. Earlier in the day Larijani addressed the OIC Inter-Parliamentary Union, focusing on Islamic Republic of Iranˈs stands on regional and international affairs and the latest developments in the region and the international scenes. The Speaker of Iran’s parliament called on Muslim states to close ranks in a bid to establish a power pole in the world. Addressing the General Assembly Meeting of the Islamic Inter-Parliamentary Union (IIPU) in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, Larijani said, “Parliaments in Muslim countries can take advantage of the ongoing regional and international developments based on clearly-defined principles in an attempt to set the stage for establishing a powerful and influential (political) pole.” “The Islamic countries can either show solidarity with each other, or move towards establishing an influential pole or follow different international poles,” he added, noting that the world is moving towards a multi-polar structure. “Now that the Islamic Awakening has created new capacities in the societies to confront bullying Western powers, some narrow-minded individuals are ignorantly oiling the wheels of enemies and breaking Muslim ranks by raising religious and tribal issues,” Larijani stated. He noted that violent behaviors under religious or sectarian pretexts would have no other result than spreading hatred and enmity among Muslims. “Violence and massacres are occurring everywhere, particularly in Muslim states like Iraq, Pakistan and Syria coincidentally by the self-declared promoters of Islam. That would bring nothing more than political chicanery and intellectual depravity which would serve the United States and global Zionism,” said Larijani. The Iranian official also noted, “Of course, we do not pick any quarrel with the followers of other divine religions because the school of Islam recommends peaceful coexistence.” The IIPU meeting is underway in Khartoum on January 21-22. The last meeting of the union was held in the Malaysian city of Palembang in January 2012. Major topics of discussion in the seventh assembly included Islamic Awakening, Palestineˈs membership in the United Nations, modern technologies, counter-terrorism, sustainable development, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the Middle East. The IIPU was established in 1999 based on an initiative by Iran. It seeks to strengthen parliamentary cooperation among Islamic countries in order to solve challenges facing the Islamic world./end