Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami says that failure of socialist and nationalist movements has led people to embrace Islam.

Head of the International Center for Dialogue of Civilizations said that despite the fact that followers of different religions live in the Middle East, the region has assumed an Islamic identity in the course of history, IRNA reported.

"The resistance to foreign forces' aggression against the Middle East territories to dominate the region has served to found such an Islamic identity," Khatami observed.

He said that colonialism faced a wall of Islamic identity in the Middle East.

"Though the Islamic identity can go in parallel with the positive aspects of western civilization, western politicians do not accept any legitimate differences because of their selfishness, especially when their interests are challenged," the former president noted.

He said that western politicians see themselves entitled to stir up Islamophobia and violence against Muslims and as result, Islam has been exposed to damages owing to the western and Zionist campaigns.

AM/HAR