Iran's president urges unity among Muslims against "dividing threats"

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani urged the Muslim world on Sunday to unite against the dividing threats.

"Unfortunately, we witness today that one Islamic country attacks the other Muslim country and bombs the innocent people. Even in the Islamic world, some grouplets, under the name of Jihad and Islam, kill the Muslims and distort the image of the Prophet Mohammad," Rouhani said at the opening ceremony of the 29th International Islamic Unity Conference in the capital Tehran.

The Muslim countries have forgotten the Zionist regime of Israel as the main invader and occupier of the Palestinian territory, he said, adding that Israel is the beneficiary of division among the Muslims.

"We have no choice but to solidify our unity" against common threats to the Islamic world, Rouhani said.

The enemies are doing their best to spread Islamophobia and portray the image of Islam as a religion of violence, but Muslims should be cognizant not to fall into the pray of the enemies, he said.

The Iranian president also drew upon the regional issues, implicitly talking about the Syria situation, and said that to take sides with the extremism and terrorism is not in anybody's interests and to forcefully subvert the leadership of a country is impossible.

"Today, no foreign power can decide on the future of a nation and the governance of the other country. All of us should respect the will of the nations," he stressed.

Over 100 Islamic scholars from Shiite and Sunni schools of thought have attended the three-day conference which kicked off in Tehran on Sunday.