Takfirism, IS Terror Pose Global Threat

Iran's UN envoy said the self-styled Islamic State militant group and its takfiri ideology is one of the most serious threats to the world the curbing of which demands collective cooperation at the regional and international levels.

"We consider terrorism, violent extremism, especially Daesh [an Arabic acronym for IS], along with its takfiri ideology, as one of the most dangerous threats of our time," Ambassador  Gholam Hussein Dehqani said on Wednesday, Press TV reported.  

Takfiris are hardliners who accuse those Muslims that do not follow their extreme interpretation of Islam of apostasy, punishable by death.

Dehqani made the remark at a meeting on existing challenges and threats held jointly by the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a bloc of six nations led by Russia and China, in New York.

IS and other terrorist groups operating in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere subscribe to Wahhabism, a radical strand of ideology preached by Saudi clerics and tolerated by the kingdom's authoritarian rulers.

Dehqani cited organized crime, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber-terrorism and illegal migration as other threats facing the world. Iran believes "cooperation between the UN and the SCO could be further enhanced to address these threats," he said.  

SCO 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. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia have 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 placed to grasp the essence of the issues at hand in a realistic manner and provide a better understanding of the ground realities."