WASHINGTON, D.C. (ABP) — A Christian delegation led by Quakers and Mennonites met with political and religious leaders in Iran to improve relations between the United States and the volatile nation.
Representatives from the American Friends Service Committee and the Mennonite Central Committee organized the trip to Tehran, Qom and Isfahan, Iran. Leaders from the Episcopal Church, Roman Catholic Church, United Methodist Church, National Council of Churches, Pax Christi and Sojourners/Call to Renewal also participated.
The eight-day trip, which began Feb. 17, came after 45 religious leaders met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his visit to New York last September.
According to reports, Ahmadinejad told the American religious leaders he is willing to engage in talks with the United States government.
“I have no reservation about conducting talks with American officials if we see some good will,” Ahmadinejad said, according to a Feb. 26 statement released from the American group.
The statement called for immediate talks between the U.S. and Iran, an immediate halt to the use of enemy rhetoric, and an increase in the number of delegations between the two countries.
“What the delegation found most encouraging from the meeting with President Ahmadinejad was a clear declaration from him of no intention to acquire or use nuclear weapons, as well as a statement that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be solved through political not military means,” the statement said.
Ahmadinejad has come under international criticism in recent months because of his claim that the Holocaust is a “myth” and his assertion that Israel should be “wiped off the map.” He has also angered members of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency for his refusal to halt Iran's nuclear program.
Members of the February delegation met with Ahmadinejad, as well as former President Mohammad Khatami and women in Iran's parliament. They also convened with evangelical protestant leaders and the Archbishop of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Iran.
Janis Shields, of the American Friends Service Committee, said delegates know they won't completely repair relations in Iran with one visit but they hope to “open the door to dialogue.”
Founded in 1917, the American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker-affiliated group that works for social justice, abolition of the death penalty and human rights. It is based in Philadelphia, Pa.
“The reason that the American Friends Service Committee and Mennonite Central Committee put this delegation together is to foster dialogue in the hope that we can come to some kind of understanding,” she said. “It's to foster reconciliation and healing.”
The group has no political or religious agenda, according to Shields. Rather, each leader presented questions and concerns according to his or her faith background.
Mary Ellen McNish, general secretary of the service committee, said in a released statement the trip was to encourage both governments to “step back from a course that will lead to conflict and suffering.”
Statements like Ahmadinejad's about the Holocaust make it difficult for Americans to believe that a constructive dialogue is possible, she said.
But similar misgivings are shared by the Iranians, the delegation learned.
Jeff Carr, the chief operations officer for Sojourners/Call to Renewal, kept a blog during the trip. In a Feb. 22 post, he said it's clear that Iranians are very interested in being respected, but they feel they have yet to receive that respect from the West.
Muslim clerics expressed pain and frustration during panel sessions but continued to “want to reach out and build bridges with us, in spite of feeling disrespected,” Carr wrote. “It's a value I think we as Christians in America could learn from our Islamic brothers and sisters in Iran, and it's a value that would go a long way in helping us solve some of the differences between our nations.”
In Tehran, Carr and others spoke at the headquarters for the Center for Islamic Culture and Information. He said he was struck by the familiarity Muslim religious leaders had with the Bible and Christianity.
During the conference, an Iranian leader told Carr he had read the entire Bible almost 20 times and asked if any of the U.S. delegates had read the entire Quran. The question made Carr feel guilty, he wrote.
“As I began to think about the primacy of the role of religion in Iran, and how much of their nation's value system comes out of the Quran, I began to think about whether or not you can truly understand a people if you have not read their holy book,” he wrote. “Could people truly know me as a person, and understand me, if they had no real knowledge of the Bible?”
The American group has plans to meet with members of Congress to report on their trip and suggest strategies to lessen tension between the two countries.
Formerly known as Persia, Iran is a founding member of the United Nations. It is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations, with a land area that equals the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany combined.
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