Ahmed Naderi who is attending the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Vienna as the chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Union committee of the Iranian parliament told IRNA on Thursday that during the conference he focused on "COVID-19 and Democracy".
He said that after the outbreak and spread of the coronavirus, some countries are oppressively and unjustly putting a lot of pressure on other countries to follow their orders and demands.
He believed that parliaments could prevent anti-democratic actions through proper legislation.
Naderi said that the Iranian delegation during the conference mainly concentrated on the need for respecting all cultures and issues of indigenous values, and stressed that parliaments can prevent acts contrary to democracy with proper legislation.
The lawmaker added that the meeting stressed that Iran is still a victim of terrorism backed by some human rights defenders.
He explained that some Western countries in recent years, on the one hand, have promoted Islamophobia at home, and on the other hand, by supporting extremism and takfiri groups, have spread hatred in other societies, and this has affected many nations. And it has created endless violence that requires consideration by the world's parliaments.
The MP said that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been a victim of assassinations and violence in the last four decades, adding that he referred to the martyrdom of the IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani at the Vienna Counter-Terrorism Summit and stated that he was a victim of endless American violence.
Naderi underscored that Martyr Soleimani was the leading figure of the fight against terrorism.
On the sidelines of the two meetings, the Chairman of the Iranian delegation met with the Chairman of the Austrian-Iranian Parliamentary Friendship Group, the Speaker of the Austrian Senate, the delegations of Syria, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Palestine, Switzerland, Russia, China, Turkey and Cuba. COVID-19 and the necessity of sharing ideas and experiences in this field, international developments including Afghanistan, strengthening strategic, trade and economic relations between the two sides were discussed.
The need to move away from American unilateralism, toward multi-lateralism, and the role of parliaments in improving Kurdish politics and relations were other areas that Naderi said were discussed at the meetings.
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