Lawmaker blasts massacre of innocent women, children by extremist groups

A senior Iranian lawmaker underlined the country’s hatred and opposition to the killing of innocent women and children in the region by terrorist and extremist groups. “The presence of the terrorist groups in the region is an element of insecurity in the region,” Hassan Kamran, who is the head of Iran-Austria Parliamentary Friendship Group, said in a meeting with Austrian Ambassador to Iran Friedrich Stift in Tehran on Monday. “The massacre of innocent women and children by extremist and terrorist groups is not acceptable to the Muslim community,” he added. Elsewhere, Kamran underlined the necessity for the further development of ties with Austria, and said, “There are abundant capabilities in the two countries which should be used to widen and develop political, economic and cultural relations, specially parliamentary ties, between the two states.” In relevant remarks in February, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani condemned the crimes committed by Takfiri and Salafi groups in different regional states, specially in Syria, and said they have scratched the beautiful face of Islam. “The extremism of the Takfiri groups has damaged the real face of Islam and the support of the world Zionism has paved the ground for their activities and operations,” Larijani said in a meeting with Sudanese National Assembly Speaker Al-Fateh Ezzeddine Al-Mansour in Tehran. “Fighting this extremism needs consultation among political leaders, emphasis on the Muslim countries’ commonalities and unity among religious leaders,” he added. Iranian officials have always warned that major world powers and their regional allies are supporting and helping to the spread of Takfiri currents in the Middle-East. They have repeatedly warned those states that are supporting Salafi and Takifiri terrorists in the region that their policy would backfire and the same groups would eventually target them as well. “Takfiri groups are used as a tool by enemies of Islam and they seem to lack a true understanding of Islam,” Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi said in a meeting with Syrian Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun in Tehran in January. He highlighted the role of clerics in reinforcing the resistance of the Syrian nation as well as fostering unity in the Arab country, and warned against plots by enemies to incite religious and sectarian rifts among Muslims. Boroujerdi also praised the resistance of the Syrian people against the foreign-sponsored crisis in the country. Also last month, senior military aide to the Iranian Supreme Leader Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi warned that Takfiri terrorists are killing Muslims for the sake of Israel’s interests in the region. “Takfiri groups are advancing Israel’s interests in the Middle-East through violence and terrorism,” Major General Rahim Safavi said. “Through the massacre of innocent people in countries like Syria, Iraq and Bahrain, Takfiri groups are pushing the situation in the region in favor of the Zionist regime (of Israel),” he said.