The interior minister reiterated the call on the international community to mount a serious and comprehensive campaign against violence which is being promoted by deviant sects and extremists in the name of Islam, IRNA reported.
Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli made the appeal upon arrival in Tajikistan on Thursday. He was heading a delegation for a three-day visit to the Tajik capital Dushanbe to take part in a meeting of interior ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states. On the sidelines of the meeting, Rahmani Fazli was scheduled to meet senior officials of the host country including Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Tajik counterpart Rahimzoda Ramazon Hamro. The interior minister was also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his Chinese and Russian counterparts Chen Wei-zen and Vladimir Kolokoltsev. In his address to the meeting, Rahmani Fazli was to shed light on Tehran's stance on regional issues, especially the international efforts against terrorism, extremism and cyber crimes.
The meeting of ministers of internal affairs and public security of SCO member states under the chairmanship of the Tajik minister of internal affairs started work on Friday, Tajikistan state-run news agency Khovar reported.
During the meeting, the participants discussed issues related to coordination of activities of the SCO law enforcement agencies to combat organized crime including weapons and drugs trafficking. Founded in 2001, the SCO is a Eurasian political, economic and military alliance. It comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, India, Pakistan, Mongolia and Afghanistan currently have observer status. Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka are the alliance's dialogue partners.
