QOM, Iran, 18 September 2006 — About 500 Iranian theological school students protested yesterday in the holy city of Qom against Pope Benedict’s speech on Islam, witnesses said. Numerous religious seminaries in Iran also announced a one-day strike today to protest at his remarks in Germany on Tuesday that cited a scholar describing Islam as “evil and inhuman,” state media reported.
The Vatican’s ambassador to Iran was also summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Tehran yesterday. Speaking shortly before the pope said yesterday he was “deeply sorry” at the anger caused, influential religious leader Ahmad Khatami told a gathering at a mosque in Qom that the pope’s remarks were “inflammatory.”
“I am saying openly that if the pope does not apologize to Muslims around the world, surely Muslims’ outcry will continue until he fully regrets his remarks,” Khatami told the crowd. Qom is Iran’s center of Shiite learning, about 125 km south of Tehran. The pope said yesterday the quote he used from a medieval text about holy wars did not reflect his personal thoughts.
Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, which supervises Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the pontiff’s speech showed that he knew little about Islam. A growing number of Muslim leaders worldwide have reacted angrily to the pope’s speech and had demanded a personal apology to dispel the impression he had joined a campaign against Islam.
Khatami further linked the pope’s remarks to the aggressive policies of US President George W Bush. Khatami and the participants unanimously demanded an official apology from the pope. He also harshly criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for defending the pope’s anti-Islamic remarks. “Merkel should not further darken her already black political record,” he said. State television reported that similar demonstrations against the pope were held the country.
The Vatican’s ambassador to Iran, Archbishop Angelo Mottola, was summoned “to receive Iran’s strong protest against the pope’s remarks on Islam,” the official IRNA news agency said. “Although it has been said his words were misinterpreted, what is obvious is that the Islamic world has a common understanding that his comments were insulting and he should be more aware of his religious and political duties,” Foreign Ministry official Ibrahim Rahimpour told the papal envoy.
