Iran’s strategic role in the Islamic world

Mehr News:

Iran’s active participation at the third extraordinary summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which was held last week in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, once again showed that the Islamic Republic of Iran always has strategies to resolve the impasses the Islamic world faces from time to time.

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and his delegation offered a series of proposals at the December 7-8 summit that drew the attention of Islamic leaders.

Ahmadinejad proposed establishing an Islamic common market, an Islamic rapid reaction military force to respond to crises in Muslim countries, and a fund to support the Palestinian cause. The Iranian delegation also called for the establishment of a steering committee to defend Islamic values against Western attacks, a center for dialogue among religions, and an Islamic human rights committee.

Although the OIC lacks the tools necessary to implement its decisions, the approval of the Ten-Year Outlook Document was one of the organization’s significant successes at the summit.

The document outlines the OIC’s policies to meet the challenges facing the Islamic world over the next ten years.

It states that Muslim countries must offer the guidelines necessary to present a moderate image of Islam over the next decade in order to familiarize the Western world with the true humanitarian face of the religion.

The partial ratification of Iran’s proposal to establish an Islamic rapid reaction force was among the most important achievements of the OIC summit and will most probably have a positive effect on developments in the Islamic world.

The rapid reaction force will be tasked with providing assistance to countries affected by natural disasters and in the future may be tasked with conducting security and military missions, with the aim of preventing internal crises in Islamic countries. READ MORE

The agreement to finance the Qods Fund for Palestine is another positive result of the Mecca summit. According to the decision, each Muslim, regardless of his nationality, should deposit at least one dollar to a special fund to be used for defending Qods and rescuing Beit-ul-Moqaddas.

This measure will help Qods and the Al-Aqsa Mosque maintain their Islamic identity in the face of the attacks of the Zionist regime.

Muslims were heartened by the fact that officials of Islamic countries, despite their differences, held discussions on the most important issues affecting the Islamic world at the Mecca summit under the umbrella of the OIC.

There is also the hope that through the implementation of the OIC Ten-Year Outlook Document, the organization will become more active in the future and thus help present the true image of Islam, which was tarnished in the eyes of many after the 9/11 events.

Although the OIC has a long way to go to realize its long-term objectives, the political will of officials of Islamic states and their attempt to decrease their dependence on foreign powers will definitely help the organization attain its lofty goals.