Ron Flaming and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
U.S. religious delegation meets with Iranian President
Feb. 25, 2007
Tehran, Iran – In the first meeting of its kind since
the 1979 Islamic revolution a group of Americans met with a sitting Iranian
president in Iran late Saturday, Feb. 24.
The meeting took place at the presidential residence of
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and included a 13-member U.S. religious
delegation and members of the president’s staff and the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
The group discussed a variety of topics including the role
of religion in transforming conflict, Iraq, nuclear proliferation, and the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The meeting began around 7:45 p.m. and lasted for nearly two
and a half hours.
What the delegation found most encouraging from the meeting
with President Ahmadinejad was a clear declaration from him that Iran has 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.
Ahmadinejad also said, “I have no reservation about
conducting talks with American officials if we see some goodwill.”
The meeting culminated six days of meetings with Iranian
religious and government leaders and informal conversations with Iranians at
universities, churches, mosques, in shops and on the street.
The delegation included leaders from the Mennonite, Quaker,
Episcopal, Catholic and United Methodist churches as well as representatives of
the National Council of Churches, Sojourners/Call to Renewal and Pax Christi.
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