Iran suggests formation of new Middle Eastern Parliament

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Feb. 12 – Iran suggested on Tuesday that a new Parliament be formed to group much of the Middle East and Southern Asia, operating much like the 27-nation European Parliament does today. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Feb. 12 – Iran suggested on Tuesday that a new Parliament be formed to group much of the Middle East and Southern Asia, operating much like the 27-nation European Parliament does today.

The announcement, the first of its kind by a senior Iranian official, was made by the country’s Prosecutor-General Qorban-Ali Dorri Najafabadi. His remarks were carried by the official news agency IRNA and other state media.

Speaking at a conference dubbed ‘Building a Confident Future for Southwest Asia’, Dorri Najafabadi also urged states situated next to the Persian Gulf to draw up a joint defence plan.

“If a powerful bloc was formed in the region, the foreigners would never dare to interfere in the region’s affairs, and we would not witness problems such as those currently existing in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine”, he said.

He called for more judicial cooperation among states in the region – a controversial call given the Islamic Republic’s strict interpretation of Sharia Law.

The radical Shiite cleric proposed that a “unified regional parliament” be formed to meet the interests of all countries in the region.

Southwest Asia is generally considered to include Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. It stretches from the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt to Afghanistan.

Dori Najaf-Abadi was for several years the chief of the theocratic state’s dreaded secret police, known as the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). He resigned when an MOIS top deputy was implicated in the murder of dozens of dissident Iranian intellectuals and writers.