Iran on Thursday dismissed US allegations of lack of religious freedom in the country as "politically motivated" statements that do not reflect ground realities. US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, Sam Brownback, said on Tuesday that the Trump administration is horrified by reports of the Iranian government's alleged persecution of religious minorities.
Brownback claimed that he had seen a "radical export" of such religious persecution out of Iran as he presented the US State Department's 2017 International Religious Freedom Report, VOA reported.
Biased Report
The Foreign Ministry spokesman in Tehran, Bahram Qasemi, refuted the US official's claims, saying, "The Islamic Republic considers the report unrealistic, baseless and biased, which has been drawn up for political purposes," IRNA reported.
The US does not have a proper understanding of Iran's internal affairs, particularly its religious demographics, and is seeking to present a distorted image of the state of religious freedom, he said.
Land of Religious Tolerance
The official noted that Iran is a land of tolerance and peaceful co-existence between peoples of all faiths and their legal rights are protected under the Constitution.
"Invented and unfounded interpretations about religion will eventually exacerbate interfaith conflict, crises and problems and will produce no constructive or positive result," the Foreign Ministry official noted.
Dialogue
He maintained that the only way to bring groups of varying religious orders closer together and avoid religious discord is to stop "politicizing" the issue and resolve matters through dialogue.
"However, it seems that the US government has forgotten this important principle and is trying to politically exploit religious diversity in selected countries," the news agency quoted Qasemi as saying.
