TEHRAN - The 24th International Islamic Unity Conference opened in Tehran on Saturday and runs until Monday, February 21.

Over 200 scholars from 57 countries are attending the conference, which has been organized by the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought (WFPIST).
WFPIST Secretary General Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Taskhiri is also the secretary general of the conference.
“Intellectual and Applied Approaches for the Manifestation of the Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought” is the official theme of the conference.
Potential solutions to realize the proximity of Islamic schools of thought, the promotion of unity among Muslims, and the latest developments in the Islamic world are some of the topics on the agenda for discussion during the conference.
U.S. trying to sowing sectarian strife among Muslims
Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani delivered an address at the conference in which he said the United States and certain other Western countries are seeking to sow sectarian strife among Muslims.
The U.S. is attempting to disseminate the idea that Iran is trying to propagate Shiaism throughout the region, Larijani said.
But Shias and Sunnis are equal for Iranians, and the Islamic Republic takes pride in supporting the Egyptian people and Hamas members who are Sunni, as well as Hezbollah members who are Shia, he stated.
Larijani added, “We do not want to see Muslims living under pressure from the United States… no matter whether they are Shia or Sunni.”
The Islamic Republic of Iran, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and the Iranian nation support the people of regional countries who are seeking to oust the dictators who are ruling their governments, the Iranian parliament speaker stated.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Larijani said the U.S. cannot mislead the new movements that have arisen in the region by giving the people superficial achievements to appease them.
The U.S. and certain other Western countries intended to assuage the Egyptians’ anger by proposing to open the Rafah border crossing, but the most important issue for Egyptians is bringing their revolution to fruition, and Western officials are mistaken if they believe they can weaken the resolve of the Egyptian nation by giving them such empty promises, Larijani said.
“The goal of the Egyptians is not to remove an old dictator and replace him with a number of young generals. Rather, the goal of the Egyptian nation is (to achieve) real democracy and to revive their national and religious identity,” he noted.
The Iranian parliament speaker added that the dictators who are subservient to the United States and Israel must be aware that they cannot quell the Islamic uprisings in the region by killing people, staging military coups, and giving them “political candies”.
By “political candies”, Larijani meant financial assistance and other economic incentives given in order to deceive citizens.
The dictators must give in to the demands of their people, Larijani stated.
The Iranian parliament speaker also called on Muslims to increase their efforts to establish unity and to increase their vigilance toward the enemies’ intrigues.
A number of Muslim scholars also delivered speeches on the first day of the conference in which they emphasized the importance of Islamic unity.