Iran biggest victim of terrorism: Prosecutor General

EghtesadOnline: The Islamic Republic of Iran Prosecutor General Mohammad-Jaafar Montazeri said on Wednesday that Iran is the biggest victim of terrorism which has lost 17,000 including officials and civilians in the past 38 years.

News ID: ۷۷۱۹۲۵

04 December 2016

Montazeri made the remarks in his address to the 14th meeting of the Prosecutors General of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on Wednesday, IRNA reported.

He further noted that terrorist groups have been created and supported by certain regional and Western states, the US in particular, and unfortunately, they still continue their acts of terror with the same countries' backing.

Referring to spread of corruption and organized crimes such as drug smuggling and extremism which are severely challenging regional states, he said that in addition to internal threats, foreign elements have also created numerous security threats and regional and trans-regional players' competition over acquiring profits have further complicated regional situation.

Terrorism is a serious threat to global peace and has turned into the biggest challenge in the world today, he said, noting that terrorism and religious extremism came to the fore following the emergence of terror groups including Al-Qaeda, Taliban and Daesh, the evil heritage of Western intelligent services led by the US and Zionist regime.

He also said that the only way to fight terrorism is seriously countering and eliminating perpetrators of it , noting that terrorists may be pushed away or destroyed but will never be annihilated.

Prevalent closed political system in certain countries, narrow-mindedness and misinterpretation of ideologies, discrimination and deprivation, class differences, in a nutshell lack of social justice, are among the factors promoting terroristic thoughts, he said.

Montazeri further noted that terrorism has never been born of Islam, as the Holy Qur'an regards killing a man as killing all humans and saving one as saving all.

Describing the status of prosecutors general as very significant in fighting terrorism, he said that prosecutor general is duty-bound to prosecute the offenders threatening the society and harming its security.

Ten conventions and two protocols focusing on fighting terrorism under the UN have been ratified and global community has reached consensus to condemn terrorism but they have not borne positive results due to lack of executive and operational approaches, he said.

Montazeri who is currently in China at the head of a delegation has earlier conferred with his counterparts from China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on the sidelines of the 14th meeting of the Prosecutors General of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.