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PRESIDENT Hassan Rouhani warned world leaders at the UN general assembly yesterday that the goal of extremists creating chaos in the Middle East is the destruction of civilisation and rise of Islamophobia.
He declared that Islamic State (Isis) terrorists want to create “a fertile ground for further intervention of foreign forces in our region.”
The Iranian president said that many parts of the region “are currently burning in the fire of extremism and radicalism” and expressed deep regret that terrorism has become globalised.
It is now a threat “from New York to Mosul, from Damascus to Baghdad, from the easternmost to the westernmost parts of the world, from al-Qaida to Daesh (Isis),” he said.
“The extremists of the world have found each other and have put out the call, ‘Extremists of the world unite,’ but are we united against the extremists?” he asked.
Mr Rouhani said that all countries that had founded and supported terrorist groups must acknowledge that their errors have led to extremism and apologise not only to the past generation but to the next generation.
He addressed the assembly as representatives from six major powers — the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — continued nuclear talks on the sidelines of the general assembly.
Negotiations have been stalled for months over US claims that Tehran is bent on developing atomic weapons.
Iran says that its enrichment programme is only for peaceful purposes and insists that any deal must put an end to the sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy.
Mr Rouhani told the general assembly that Tehran is determined to continue its confidence-building approach and transparency in the nuclear negotiations.
If the six parties “are also equally motivated and flexible … then an entirely different environment will emerge for co-operation and regional and international levels, allowing for greater focus on some very important regional issues such as combating violence and extremism in the region,” he said.
President Rouhani said it would also be “a historic opportunity” for the West to show that it doesn’t discriminate on international rules, which allow Iran to produce energy through a peaceful nuclear programme.
