Thursday, December 28, 2006 at 1:01am
Ahmadinejad makes nice to Christians
With a Western embargo looming, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is launching a charm offensive towards Christians. In his Christmas message he exalted the return of Jesus and acknowledged the value of the Christian community in Iran.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki personally travelled to Rome to deliver a letter, bypassing the Vatican Nunciature in Tehran. A spokesman for the president stated Wednesday that Ahmadinejad's letter was "non political", focussing on the "shared teachings of the prophets" and the need for "close collaboration" between religions against injustice, AsiaNews reported Thursday.
In the Iranian president's Christmas message, in itself almost a "Christmas miracle" in the country considered to be the "land of the Magi," Ahmadinejad spoke of Jesus Christ as "a divine prophet" and of "Holy Mary" as "a great model for women".
Surprisingly, for a Shiite Muslim who awaits the reappearance of the 12th imam, he expressed eschatological expectations about Christ whose return "will offer all the beauty and goodness to human kind."
He explicitly acknowledged Iran's Christian community, to whom he expressed best wishes. "In honouring the birth of the prophet of love and friendship Jesus Christ, and expressing my best wishes for the Christian New Year, I pray the God of compassion and wisdom to give everyone, especially the Christians of Iran and the world, joy, health and a year full of blessings and love," he wrote.
It is rare for religious minorities in Iran to be acknowledged and greeted this way. It was likely to be part of the buildup for Foreign Minister Mottaki's visit to the Vatican, AsiaNews said.
Iran is sending these signals to the world after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution against it due to its nuclear ambitions. The charm offensive to Christians comes in the wake of virulent verbal attacks against Israel and a conference attended by deniers of the Holocaust.
As far as the controversy caused by Pope Benedict's quoting of a medieval emperor criticizing Mohammed, Ahmadinejad said there was nothing unduly offensive in the speech and calling for moderation and rationality on the part of Muslims.
The letter sent to the Pope is the latest missive Ahmadinejad wrote. In May he sent a letter to President George Bush. In June he sent messages to French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki personally travelled to Rome to deliver a letter, bypassing the Vatican Nunciature in Tehran. A spokesman for the president stated Wednesday that Ahmadinejad's letter was "non political", focussing on the "shared teachings of the prophets" and the need for "close collaboration" between religions against injustice, AsiaNews reported Thursday.
In the Iranian president's Christmas message, in itself almost a "Christmas miracle" in the country considered to be the "land of the Magi," Ahmadinejad spoke of Jesus Christ as "a divine prophet" and of "Holy Mary" as "a great model for women".
Surprisingly, for a Shiite Muslim who awaits the reappearance of the 12th imam, he expressed eschatological expectations about Christ whose return "will offer all the beauty and goodness to human kind."
He explicitly acknowledged Iran's Christian community, to whom he expressed best wishes. "In honouring the birth of the prophet of love and friendship Jesus Christ, and expressing my best wishes for the Christian New Year, I pray the God of compassion and wisdom to give everyone, especially the Christians of Iran and the world, joy, health and a year full of blessings and love," he wrote.
It is rare for religious minorities in Iran to be acknowledged and greeted this way. It was likely to be part of the buildup for Foreign Minister Mottaki's visit to the Vatican, AsiaNews said.
Iran is sending these signals to the world after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution against it due to its nuclear ambitions. The charm offensive to Christians comes in the wake of virulent verbal attacks against Israel and a conference attended by deniers of the Holocaust.
As far as the controversy caused by Pope Benedict's quoting of a medieval emperor criticizing Mohammed, Ahmadinejad said there was nothing unduly offensive in the speech and calling for moderation and rationality on the part of Muslims.
The letter sent to the Pope is the latest missive Ahmadinejad wrote. In May he sent a letter to President George Bush. In June he sent messages to French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.