ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Iran's moderate President Hassan Rouhani has told a group of Kurdish and Sunni clerics that the country is still facing challenges in relations among Iran's diverse communities, calling on them to support his government to "remove barriers" between "different faiths and languages."
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is based on recognizing religious, ethnic and cultural diversity. The government has planned to make the best use of ethnicities and religions for synergy and boosting cultural and national unity," Rouhani said at the meeting in Tehran on Sunday.
Five months ahead of the next presidential election, Rouhani still enjoys the broad support from the moderate forces in the complicated political structure of the Islamic Republic with many Kurds and Sunnis backing a president who has also represented the political establishment over many decades.
With a population of nearly 80 million, the Islamic Republic is considered the largest Shiite country in the world, although around 30 percent of its population are Sunnis.
Nearly half of Iran's Shiites comprise of Turkish speaking ethnic Azaris who have in recent years voiced concern over what they see as discriminatory approaches towards them from a Persian-speaking Islamic Republic.
Rouhani said his government's policies had been reliant on "vision and hope" for the people of different languages and faiths, a rare indication of recognition of other ethnic and religious groups in the country.
As part of his election promises, the president launched Kurdish language as part of curricula in both school and university levels in Kurdish regions, and also appointed a Kurd as Iran's ambassador to Vietnam and Cambodia, amid growing Kurdish discontent with his government.
Kurdish critics say Rouhani's cabinet has failed to realize the promises that helped him to success over three years ago and many have raised doubts that Kurdish voters would again stand beside him again.
"He was not committed to his campaign promises and the Kurdish region are as sidelined as ever," Muhammad Rauf Qaderi who worked with Rouhani's election camp in 2013, told Rudaw.
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