Haj Minister and acting Information Minister Bandar Hajjar said the media should promote the peaceful coexistence of nations, boost development and strengthen global security and stability.

The minister made this comment while speaking to reporters after representing Saudi Arabia at a conference on information and communication involving the participation of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Tehran.

“The media should also confront deviant thoughts, extremism and terrorism for the benefit of Muslims and other communities all over the world,” Hajjar said. He stressed that the media should not be used to promote hatred and racism or to attack other countries and peoples.

The Saudi minister also emphasized the importance of confronting Islamophobia and smear campaigns that aim to tarnish the image of Islam and Muslims. “We hope the OIC will take steps to implement all the resolutions taken by the conference,” he added.

At the conference, ministers also called for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, saying that the media in the OIC member states should cover Israel's atrocities against the Palestinians and the regime’s attempts to Judaize occupied Jerusalem.

The conference also condemned the crimes perpetrated by the Islamic State (IS) terrorists who are wreaking havoc among people in Iraq and Syria, expressing support for media activities to help stop the spread of hatred and discrimination against Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

OIC Secretary-General Iyad Madani described the conference as a turning point. He directed blame for the current challenges across the Muslim world toward extremists and said that all participants at the conference in Tehran were unanimous that the media has a special role in the fight against the challenges facing OIC states.

Madani said that the ministers have agreed to invest in Islamic media: "We don't want agreements to remain on the paper, rather want to implement them." Maha Akeel, director of information department at the OIC and chief editor of OIC Journal, said the conference was successful in adopting a number of very important resolutions in order to use the media more effectively in countering the extremists› rhetoric and ideology.

“The media in the Muslim world must take the responsibility and be at the forefront of defending Islam and Muslims against the claims of extremist groups and present the true image of Islam,” she said.

The conference called for more cooperation among the media in the OIC member states on capacity building, joint programs and exchange of expertise, Akeel said. “We at the Information Department intend to follow up on implementing all these resolutions,” she added.