Catholicos of All Armenians Received Vice-Mayor of Tehran

On December 9th, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; received Dr. Mahmoud Salahi, Vice-Mayor of Tehran, Iran; in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. He was accompanied by Seyed Kazem Sajjad, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Armenia.

Welcoming the official delegation’s visit to the spiritual center of all Armenians, His Holiness stressed that every such visit offers new efforts for the cooperation between the two countries.

His Holiness added that the Armenian Church must also contribute to the strengthening of those relations. The Catholicos of All Armenians reflected on the visit of Mr. Ayatollah Mohammad Hassan Akhtari, General Secretary of Ahl al-Beit World Assembly, noting that inter-religious relations are also an important part of the friendship between the two nations.

During the meeting, Dr. Salahi expressed joy on the occasion of visiting the Mother See, and conveyed the greetings of the Mayor of Tehran to His Holiness. The Vice-Mayor spoke in general about Armenia and Iran, the cultural relations, and the peaceful and solidarity co-existence of the Christian and Muslim people in Iran. His Holiness noted the caring attitude displayed by the Iranian authorities towards the Armenian churches and cultural centers functioning in Iran.

During the meeting, the Catholicos of All Armenians and Dr. Salahi reflected on the manifestations of extremism taking place in the world, expressing hope that through the efforts of the international community such occurrences will be eliminated from the life of mankind.

The meeting was attended by His Grace Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan, Director of the External Relations and Protocol Department of the Mother See.

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