Pope Benedict - Iran's right to Nuclear Energy

Pope Benedict XVI, in his meeting in Vatican on Friday evening with Head of Iran’s Centre for Dialogue Among Civilizations, Hojjatoleslam Seyed Mohammad Khatami, emphasized on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Sample Image

According to IRNA [BigNewsNetwork], Benedict said Iran has the right to use peaceful nuclear energy like other world countries.

The Pope referring to the freedom that religious minorities enjoy in Islamic Iran, said divine religions are respected in Iran and the religious minorities have their own representatives in the Iranian Parliament while their rights and dignity are respected.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he mentioned Iran’s important role in promoting tranquility in the region and said Europe is aware of Iran’s regional clout and this country can play an important role in resolution of regional crises.

Khatami for his part defended Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy and said adoption of unjust and double standards by the West are problematic facts.


Hindustan Times

Pope Benedict XVI supports Iran's right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, reports a local news agency.
The pope was speaking in a meeting in the Vatican with former Iranian president and head of the International Centre of Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations Mohammad Khatami on Friday.

Like other big states, Iran should use peaceful nuclear energy, he said.

He pointed to freedom of religions in Iran and added there was peaceful coexistence and respect among religions in the country.

He said he was informed that religious minorities have MPs in Iran's parliament and their rights are respected.

Referring to escalation of tension and aggravation of political and security problems in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and the occupied Palestine, the pope said Europe is well aware of Iran's power in the region.

By relying on its peaceful policies, said the pope, Iran can play an important role in resolving regional problems and crises.

Meanwhile, Khatami said, "Today, Muslims, Christians and followers of other religions should stress on their commonalties and strive to maintain unity in the face of insecurity and violence." The former president regarded lack of kindness and justice as the root cause of main problems for mankind.

Stressing Iran's right to acquire nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, he said, "Execution of unfair and double standards are among realities which create problems."

Pointing to problems in Palestine, the former president said, "It should be admitted that peace plans set forth for Palestine so far have not been fair.

"Those who claimed they were implementing the plans were not fair and impartial," he said.

Khatami also criticised continued occupation of Iraq by the US and its allies, and said it has given rise to insecurity, extremism, terrorism and caused massacre of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in the country.



Related Articles:

IRIB - Pope Benedict XVI and Iran's Nuclear Programme (w.r.t. statements made at the Vatican in 2007)


A look at the Movie - The Passion of the Christ - July 2007 (an Islamic perspective with comments from others)

Tags:
This also appears in:

Next Posts

Previous Posts

Comments

Chezz - C'Tack!
Interesting article thanks for posting it.

Khatami said, "Today, Muslims, Christians and followers of other religions should stress on their commonalties and strive to maintain unity in the face of insecurity and violence." The former president regarded lack of kindness and justice as the root cause of main problems for mankind.

These words are very true.
SpiritSeeker
This Pope seems to be very naive. Religious tolerance in Iran is very selective and always comes with conditions. Consider the Baha'i faith whose members have been persecuted and killed. A good article can be found here.

I had a liberal Iranian roommate in college and through met became acquainted with a Bahai girl so I have always been interested in this.

Also no one disputes Iran's right to peaceful nuclear power. Yet their actions and rejection of international controls indicates they want military nuclear power.
Uniter

Thank you for posting this interesting article. For some reason, it seems like when post people hear the word "Iran", it's like a taboo. They are immediately overcome by emotion, and "gim" pictures of past relations. The problem is that many people came to know Iran only through headlines, which is a dangerous and misleading perception.

I personally believe that Iran is not seeking a nuclear bomb. I think that some other nations want them to remain technologically inferior. But the Iranians have shown that they have resilience by getting this far while facing economic sanctions and embargos, as well as an 8 year imposed war in which hundreds of thousands of their people were killed or maimed with weapons provided by some global powers.

I've read articles which state that nuclear techonology, have many benefits besides producing energy. They may even have hidden health benefits as well as other things. : )

Yahya'Bene'Dicere
thanks for your comment SpiritSeeker. I tend to go with the Holy Father in this assessment. The incidents you refer to are only documented by those who oppose Iran for other political reasons. i am sure such critics (mostly outside Iran) couldn't care less about any religious minorities in Iran or for religious majorities in other parts of the Middle east (eg. Muslims and Christins in occupied Jerusalem).
Yahya'Bene'Dicere
SpiritSeeker, I have been looking your comments over and wonder how much of what you say is factual. Iran is not seeking nuclear power, even the CIA and IAEA have reached this conclusion. Perhaps your statements about persecution and murder are similarly distorted? I posted a clip from the president's speech at Columbia University campus at youtube which has attracted some interesting commentgs and information in the side bar as well. Maybe one should seekTruth and spirit (with all respect)
Scio, Scio
The Pope probably doesn't want to get into the very middle of the political fight between Iran and the U.S. As an American I don't have a problem with Iran using nuclear power. But Iran needs a reality check here: It is situated in an unstable region, it has been confrontational and stridently opposed to Israel and Western powers, and the chance that the nuclear material could fall into the wrong hands is greater in Tehran than in Surry County, Virginia.

It would be a gesture of cooperation for Iran to allow UN oversight of their nuclear program, and this would foster communication and diplomacy in the region. But as it stands they are doing the typical Middle East thing and so will find their landscape pockmarked with craters in the next 5 years.
paikea
does no one think that the Pope is trying to cover his anointed behind just in case just in case Iran wants nuclear power for other purposes? - i'm not saying here that's necessarily wrong that Iran might want "other" nuclear capabilities - i happen to be one of those who think the U.S. and their allies having the only access to nuclear weapons highly scary - but, the pope hasn't exactly shown tolerance himself in the past - i think what we're seeing is some of the Vatican's political machinations - they are a political entity after all...
The Madmouser
I don't know whether Iran is seeking peaceful or military nuclear power, but I question why they will not allow the UN inspectors evaluate their progress. If it is all peaceful, then there should be no problem, so what gives? They need to show a willingness to cooperate.
Yahya'Bene'Dicere
Here's the thing, MM. You are wrong in saying they will not allow evaluation. Iran is cooperating to the highest level, and certainly to a higher degree than the USA or Israel. And we all know the track records, and the number of threats that the USA and Israee make daily, far outnumber any other country. The secrecy we are seeing is to be expected with such sensitive processes in any country; this, for their own security to begin with. Such facilities are highly guarded in ANY country, isn't that true?
Yahya'Bene'Dicere
It is so easy to fall into the trap set by propagandists that we eventually start repeating the lies we have been told. There is NO UNWILLINGNESS on the part of Iran. Each time I have searched this and come up with new documents, the most important being the IAEA documents themselves. Reading through it, it becomes clear why Rice and others have targeted the IAEA recently, trying to discredit them for their successful efforts.
Iran's FULL COOPERATION - August report [IAEA pdf] Your attention is drawn to the closing points. A search of the IAEA press releases.
This site follows all disarmament issues [reaching critical will]
IAEA attacked for resolving nuclear issue [my blog post]
Yahya'Bene'Dicere
It doesn't matter what Iran does, the western powers' greed is driving them as usual. The region is unstable because of western presence, from the occupation of Palestine, to the days of US alliance with the Shar, then Saddam, to the modern invasions, etc, etc. Iran is fully cooperating with the IAEA, but as we saw in the case of Iraq, the IAEA's reports can easily be ignored by the warmongers. Have you forgotten Hans Blix? Your comments are valued for their amusing nature mostly. Seriously, it is sad how much people are affected by lies of the propaganda machine.

Post a comment

Already a Vox member? Sign in

You will be asked to join Vox to post this comment.