Iran: Iran's Leaders Open The Triennial Summit Of The Organisation Of The Islamic Conference

Record ID: 3958

  • Title: Iran: Iran's Leaders Open The Triennial Summit Of The Organisation Of The Islamic Conference
  • Date: 9th December 1997
  • Summary: Iran's leaders opened the triennial summit of the 55-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference on December 9, 1997, by displaying sharply opposite views of the world. Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a conservative Shi'ite Moslem clergyman, launched a blistering attack on the West as materialistic, money-seeking, gluttonous and carnal. A few minutes later President Mohammad Khatami, a moderate in the Iranian context, said Islamic civil society and its Western counterpart were "not necessarily in conflict and contradiction in all their manifestations and consequences. The apparent disunity, centred on divisions between the religious and political worlds, was later shown up by Khamenei's demands that Iran be given a permanent seat on the Security Council - an issue Khatami was keen to avoid as he met with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Iranian president, elected in May 1997 on a platform of reform and respect for the rule of international law, and is thought to represent many of Iran's younger generation who are keen for some kind of reproachment with the West.
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  • Location: IRAN TEHRAN
  • Reuters ID: LDL00127KIPAN
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
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  • Copyright Holder: Reuters Archive
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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