Takfirism, extremism, Daesh most dire threats to world: Iran UN envoy

Iran says Daesh and its Takfiri ideology is one of the world’s most serious threats, which requires collective cooperation at national, regional and international levels in order to confront it. 

“We consider terrorism, violent extremism, especially Deash, along with its Takfiri ideology, as one of the most dangerous threats of our time," Iran's Ambassador to the UN Gholam-Hossein Dehqani said on Wednesday. 

He made the remarks at a joint event on existing challenges and threats held by the United Nations and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a pact of six nations led by Russia and China, in New York.

Daesh and other terrorist groups operating in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the world practice Wahhabism, a radical strand of ideology preached by Saudi clerics and tolerated by the kingdom's rulers.

Dehqani cited "organized crimes, 'peace keeping and peace building', countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber-terrorism, and illegal migration" among other threats faced by the world countries. 

Iran believes "cooperation between the UN and the SCO could be further enhanced to meet these threats,” he said. 

The SCO bloc was established in 2001 to tackle regional terrorist threats as well as promote political, economic and cultural cooperation throughout the region. 

The bloc comprises of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as full members, with Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia having observer status. India and Pakistan are also set to join the group next year after signing an agreement earlier in June.

Dehqani said regional organizations "are better positioned to grasp the essence of the issues at hand in a realistic way and provide a better understanding of the facts on the ground."

"In many cases, they are also equipped with preventive mechanisms customized to the local realities and requirement," he said.

Iran, for more than a decade, has followed the activities of the organization and has strong ties with the SCO and all its members, Dehqani said.

"The challenges and threats in our today’s world are much more multi-faceted, inter-related and complicated than any time in the past and, thus, it requires a much more shared and collective response at the national, regional and international levels," he said.

"As a centerpiece of peace and stability in the region, the Islamic of Republic of Iran, as a matter of policy, has always supported multilateral cooperation, as the best way to face the increasing challenges and threats in the fields of security and development." 

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