U.S. religious leaders meet with Iranian president

Nearly 45 religious leaders from Christian and Muslim faith backgrounds met with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Sept. 20 in New York, in an open discussion about the role religious communities can play in reversing the deepening crisis between Iran and the United States.

Robb Davis, MCC executive director (l) and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, at the Sept. 20 meeting between religious groups and Ahmadinejad. Behind Davis is Ed Martin, co-director of MCC’s Asia program.

The event was organized and sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), of Akron, Pa.

“The Iranian government invited us to organize a conversation between religious leaders and President Ahmadinejad,” said Robb Davis, MCC executive director. “As an agency of one of the historic peace churches we viewed this as an opportunity to build mutual understanding between two peoples who have lived too long with mutual suspicion.”

Both Davis and Ahmadinejad opened the meeting with comments about their respective faith positions. Much of the subsequent discussion focused on a mixture of religious and political issues such as the harsh language between the U.S. and Iranian governments, Ahmadinejad’s publicly stated position on the Holocaust, and the role of religious groups in the nuclear weapons dispute.

“The president broke very little new ground in his responses but had some helpful suggestions for the role of people of faith in engaging more deeply around the issue of nuclear nonproliferation,” Davis said. Ahmadinejad had suggested religious people should assume a role in monitoring the nuclear activities in all countries, including the U.S. and Iran.

Towards the end of the meeting, promises of further discussion and a possible visit to Iran by a religious delegation were agreed upon by the delegation and Ahmadinejad.

“Come in winter when the nights are long and we can spend many hours discussing things,” the Iranian president said.

Davis closed the meeting by saying that in the Christian faith tradition God calls on believers to pray for all leaders and that the delegation would be praying for Ahmadinejad and U.S. President George Bush. Ahmadinejad acknowledged the point and said he welcomed the group’s prayers.

—MCC News

Note: full report at MCC.org