TEHRAN – Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani has asked the Organization of the Islamic Conference and other international bodies to react to the killing of Muslims in China.

“Defending the oppressed is an Islamic and humanitarian duty,” Ayatollah Sobhani said in a statement released on Tuesday.
“We just thought that only the bullying West violates Muslims’ rights and deprive them of their basic rights but reports from China indicate that in that part of the world the unprotected Muslims are being mercilessly suppressed by yesterday’s communist China and today’s capitalist China,” the ayatollah explained.
The ayatollah said Uyghur Muslims are seeking their citizenship rights and asked Beijing to respect the civil rights of all its citizens.
Such a treatment has caused a pain in the hearts of 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide and damaged China’s image in the world, he lamented.
He said China, which is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, must not deal with its citizens in this way.
While complaining about the West’s indifference to the agonies of Muslims in the world, he said, “We asked international and human rights organizations, especially the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to move quickly to act based on their duties in defending the lives and properties of Chinese Muslims.”
So far, a number of Maraj-e Taqli (sources of emulation) including Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani, Ayatollah Yousef Sanei, Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, and Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani have issued separate statements condemning the recent killings of Muslims in China.
In an interview with the ISNA news agency published on Tuesday, cleric Ahmad Khatami praised the Maraj-e Taqli’s reaction to the issue of Muslims in China. He also said Foreign Minister Mottaki has contacted his Chinese counterpart to express Iran’s concern over the issue.
Khatami, a Tehran Friday prayer leader, said Iran’s constitution calls for defending Muslims when they suffer injustice.
Khatami also said he expects the issue to be raised in Friday prayer sermons in Tehran on July 17 that will be led by Rafsanjani