In spite of extensive religious and cultural commonalities, the Islamic world still suffers from lack of adequate knowledge on mass media and ways and means of bridging the information gap, said First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, addressing the opening ceremony of the 10th Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers (ICIM), in Tehran, on Wednesday (December 3).
Pointing to the “further advancement of the Islamophobia scheme” by the Western media, following the dreadful developments of extremism in the region, Jahangiri said “in this trying situation, the Islamic world is in dire need of solidarity, unity and cooperation.”
“Our common responsibility is to find new resolutions for today’s dangers and threats,” he said, IRNA reported.
It is pivotal for true Muslims to create an Islamic world without violence and extremism. In this respect, the proper use of capacities and potentials of the media and mass communications can effectively help eliminate misunderstandings and present the real face of Islam and its values, he noted.
He underlined that in order to “confront attempts that are targeted towards widening the divide” among the Ummah, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) should use its extensive capacities to undertake relevant comprehensive and practical measures.
Numerous Challenges
Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati said: “We convene here at a time of numerous challenges facing the Islamic world and in particular the Middle East region, which have caused serious concerns. It is quite unfortunate that many of the crimes are committed under the name of Islam, to tarnish the true and enlightening image of our religion.”
He recalled the initiative of President Hassan Rouhani, on a ‘World Against Violence and Extremism’ which has received wide support of the international community, and in particular Muslims, and added “the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a founding member of the OIC, is committed to the noble objectives of the organization and supports its activities for promotion of cooperation among the member states.”
Referring to the slogan of this year’s conference ‘Media Convergence for Establishment of Peace and Calm in Islamic World’, he said, “in today’s world, the crucial role of the media and its impact on international developments cannot be overemphasized. Targeted dissemination of information and the monopoly that is exercised over media and cyber space has helped certain Western media to project misperceptions about Islam and Muslims. “Such actions have intensified discrimination and injustice against Muslims in the non-Islamic countries,” he pointed out.
Recommendations
Jannati urged that the recommendations to finalize the restructuring process of the Islamic News Agency (IINA) as well as the Islamic Broadcasting Union (IBU) and establishment of the satellite network of OIC, which has remained long on the agenda, be fulfilled.
The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Iyad bin Amin Madani, information ministers from Muslim states together with their ambassadors to Tehran and senior officials of their news agencies attended the ministerial meeting at Azadi Hotel in northern Tehran.
At the inaugural session, Iran took over the presidency of the 10th ICIM meeting from Gabon which presided over the 9th meeting.
The OIC comprises 57 countries, and this is the second time that the conference was held in Tehran. The first was in the year 1999.
The ICIM expert meeting was held on December 1-2.
