Top Kashmiri cleric meets Iranian president, seeks unity amid attacks on Palestine, Lebanon

Kashmir's top cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, along with a delegation, called on Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, seeking unity among Muslims amid "immense suffering" inflicted upon people in Palestine and Lebanon and a rising trend of Islamophobia.

The meeting was held in the Indian capital New Delhi, where Pezeshkian and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attended the BRICS Leaders' Summit this weekend, Farooq said Sunday in a statement on US social media company X.

Iranian Ambassador to India Mohammad Fathali was also present at the meeting.

"I expressed that unity within the Muslim Ummah - not allowing political conflicts or sectarian differences to divide us, amid growing Islamophobia and the immense suffering inflicted upon Iran, Palestine, Lebanon and elsewhere, is the most important safeguard against it," said Farooq.

He was accompanied by Kashmiri Shia leaders Aga Syed Hassan Mosavi and Imran Reza Ansari.

They also conveyed "our solidarity with the people of Iran at this difficult time," calling for an end to "aggression" on the country amid war with the US, according to the statement.

"Confrontation cannot resolve issues," Farooq said, adding that the ultimate way forward is through dialogue, diplomacy and engagement.

Recalling Kashmir's centuries-old cultural and historical relationship with Iran, he presented the Iranian president with a specially crafted walnut-wood model of the historic Jamia Masjid (Grand Mosque) in Srinagar.