President Highlights Peaceful Coexistence of Faiths in Iran
Addressing the opening ceremony of the 17th World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations convention in Tehran, the president noted that in Iran, churches and synagogues exist alongside mosques.
Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians enjoy the same degree of freedom in Iran as do Muslims, he added.
Hojat-ol-Islam Rouhani also noted that Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians have representatives in Iran’s parliaments.
Under the Iranian Constitution, the recognized religious minorities have the right to elect parliamentary representatives of their own, while they can vote for Muslim candidates as well.
Five seats of the country’s parliament are reserved for religious minorities. There is one Zoroastrian, one Jewish and three Christian (two for Armenian Christian and one for Assyrians) lawmakers in the Iranian parliament.
Over 140 tour guides from 35 countries are attending the 17th WFTGA convention, which will run until February 1.
Iran won the bid to host the 17th WFTGA convention in December 2014, after battling it out with Singapore and Denmark, and winning the required votes from WFTGA member states.
The convention is organized by the Iran Federation of Tourist Guide Associations under the auspices of the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization.
During the event which also includes variety of tours across the country, the WFTGA members will elect the new board of directors and the host of the 18th convention.
http://iqna.ir/fa/news/3567327
