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Trump's racial slur prelude to era of modern savagery: Iran

Iran's Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani (2nd-R) is seen during the opening of the 13th Session of the Parliamentary Union of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or the PUIC, in Tehran, on January 15, 2018.

Iran's Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani says recent derogatory remarks made by United States President Donald Trump to refer to Haiti and African countries may be ushering in an era of "modern savagery."

"I was deeply sorrowed to hear that America's president the other day used humiliating language to speak about certain countries," Larijani said on Monday.

"I think this era is leading us to an epoch of modern savagery, in which political language has lost its normalcy and nations are addressed with vile and degrading rhetoric instead of respect," the Iranian Parliament speaker added.

Trump on Thursday questioned why the US should be taking in immigrants from Haiti and African nations, which he called "shithole countries," according to US government officials present at the meeting where Trump spoke.

"Why do we want all these people from Africa here? They're shithole countries... We should have more people from Norway," Trump reportedly said.

The comments drew international condemnation, including from the United Nations, which described them as "racist." Many observers inside the US and elsewhere have also called the American president "racist" for making the insulting utterances.

While Trump later attempted to deny that he had used such scornful language, the White House seemed to defend those remarks in a statement.

Larijani, who was speaking at the 13th Session of the Parliamentary Union of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or the PUIC, in Tehran, said Islamic countries had to censure Trump's remarks "because no president should humiliate a nation, African or otherwise."

He said those comments were both thoughtless and meant to provoke nations.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Larijani said terrorism and security-related issues had in recent years kept the minds of Islamic countries occupied and thus, the Israeli regime had found an opening to get the issue of the Jerusalem al-Quds out of the spotlight with the help of the US.

He said that Islamic countries were watchful and took a stand against the US recognition of Quds as Israel's "capital" but he urged further action.

The OIC held an emergency meeting in the Turkish city of Istanbul to declare Trump's move null and void.

One of the top issues on the agenda of the PUIC conference underway in the Iranian capital is the Palestinian issue, he said.

Larijani also referred to the great potentials of Islamic countries, including "the best energy resources and good workforce," and urged closer economic interaction among those nations.


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