Tehran, 3 Jan. (AKI) - Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Gholpayeghani said on Wednesday that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was wrong in writing to Pope Benedict XVI a letter delivered on 27 December last year. "Ahmadinejad has committed a grave error writing to the pontiff because the latter, who has offended Islam, should have sent to the heads of state of Muslim countries a letter of apologies," the top cleric said. He was referring to a speech by the pope on 12 September linking Islam to violence which angered Muslims worldwide.Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to the pontiff in which he said that "the unjust relations existing in the world need the cooperation of different religions. It is important to establish new political and humane relations on the basis of common teachings of the prophets."
The president's missive followed the delivery to Ahmadinejad by the apostolic nuncio in Tehran, Angelo Mottola,of a message from the pope in which Benedict highlighted the importance of religious freedom and that the lack of respect for it in "some states" was worrying.