The Center for Peace and Dialogue at the University of Religions and Denominations (URD) held an academic seminar entitled \u201cWar and Peace in the Contemporary World: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue on International Law, Moral Principles, and Religious Teachings,\u201d<\/strong> bringing together distinguished scholars from Greek and Iranian universities.<\/p>\n Dr. Mohammad Taher Gholitabar, Director General for International Affairs and Director of the Center for Peace and Dialogue at URD, warmly welcomed the Greek academic delegation and commended their courage and sense of academic responsibility in visiting Iran amid sensitive regional circumstances.<\/p>\n He also highlighted the history of academic cooperation between the University of Religions and Denominations and universities in Thessaloniki and Athens.<\/p>\n Prof. Grigoris Zarotiadis expressed his appreciation for the hospitality of the University of Religions and Denominations and outlined the principal purpose of the delegation\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst, I would like to express our deepest gratitude for your hospitality. The main reason for this delegation\u2019s visit is that we felt our responsibility as members of the global academic community is not limited to research and teaching, but also requires us to be present and active in difficult times and to express solidarity with our colleagues, brothers, and sisters around the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Turning to the historical relationship between the two countries, he added: \u201cThe second reason is that the civilizational ties between the Iranian and Greek peoples extend back more than 3,000 years. Over these millennia, we have learned to use our differences not as grounds for conflict, but as a foundation for mutual respect, new ideas, and scientific and philosophical achievements. What is missing in the contemporary disorder of the world is an understanding of this very principle: that a plurality of perspectives is not a source of violence, but a source of progress.\u201d<\/p>\n Discussing global economic and political conditions, Zarotiadis said: \u201cEconomic and political analysis suggests that we are living in a \u2018pre-revolutionary\u2019 era\u2014one in which the gap between the immense possibilities offered by technology and the harsh realities of people\u2019s lives has grown considerably. This situation disproves Fukuyama\u2019s thesis of the \u2018end of history\u2019 put forward in the 1990s. History has returned, and we face a dilemma: either we must save history or suffer its consequences. We must move beyond capitalism toward just and ethical governance grounded in mutual respect and love.\u201d<\/p>\n In a legal analysis, Dr. Panayotis Kourgiotis emphasized the significance of visiting Iran at a critical time when, he said, the country was facing unjust aggression by imperialist and Zionist powers.<\/p>\n He described the pressures exerted on Iran in recent decades as a war on multiple fronts: an economic war through sanctions, a diplomatic war aimed at isolation, direct military warfare, and a war of media propaganda.<\/p>\n Kourgiotis identified four principal reasons for the aggression against Iran:<\/p>\n Criticizing what he described as the European Union\u2019s passive policies toward the United States, he added: \u201cEuropean countries displayed hypocrisy following Trump\u2019s withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018. Our duty as university academics is to return to our countries and explain to our students and the wider public the legitimacy of Iran\u2019s defense.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Alexis Lekakis discussed the turbulent transition from a unipolar to a multipolar world order, describing it as a process accompanied by genocide in Gaza and crimes in Lebanon and Yemen.<\/p>\n Referring to the attack on Iran, he characterized it as an attack on the Iranian nation as a whole, including the country\u2019s infrastructure, hospitals, and schools.<\/p>\n Lekakis argued that the principal reason for Western hostility toward Iran was not its nuclear program, but its political independence and refusal to abandon the Palestinian cause.<\/p>\n He also referred to remarks made in Greece by the U.S. Secretary of State concerning historical hostility between Iran and Greece. He described those remarks as a misuse of Greek history to promote a \u201cclash of civilizations\u201d narrative, emphasizing that the history of the two peoples bears witness to mutual influences and constructive cultural exchanges more than to confrontation and conflict.<\/p>\n Rejecting the \u201cclash of civilizations\u201d narrative as deeply biased, he offered a historical example: when the Byzantine emperor closed the Academy of Athens, Greek philosophers sought refuge at the court of the Sassanian king Khosrow Anushirvan, where their works were preserved.<\/p>\n He concluded by expressing his profound solidarity with the noble people of Iran.<\/p>\n Hojjatoleslam Dr. Mohammad Masjed Jamei, Senior Adviser to the President of the University of Religions and Denominations and former Iranian Ambassador to the Vatican, recalled hosting Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Orthodox Christian leader, during his tenure as Director General for Cultural Affairs at Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n He recounted that the Patriarch had recognized structural similarities between Orthodox religious art and Iranian-Islamic art and had proposed offering scholarships to Iranian students to study Byzantine culture in Thessaloniki.<\/p>\n Masjed Jamei also expressed his appreciation for the Greek scholars\u2019 fair-minded and courageous analyses in support of the Iranian people\u2019s legitimate rights.<\/p>\n On behalf of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Prof. Zarotiadis presented three practical proposals for consideration and approval:<\/p>\n In his concluding remarks, Dr. Gholitabar described the University of Religions and Denominations as a unique center dedicated to the academic study of all religions, noting that it had hosted numerous international delegations.<\/p>\n He characterized the Greek scholars\u2019 presence in Iran under the prevailing sensitive circumstances as a sign of genuine friendship and academic courage, and expressed his appreciation for their profound support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Center for Peace and Dialogue at the University of Religions and Denominations (URD) held an academic seminar entitled \u201cWar and Peace in the Contemporary World: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue on International Law, Moral Principles, and Religious Teachings,\u201d bringing together distinguished scholars from Greek and Iranian universities. Opening Remarks by Session Chair Dr. Mohammad Taher Gholitabar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":137076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"tags":[],"faculties":[],"news-category":[],"class_list":["post-137075","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/137075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137075"},{"taxonomy":"faculties","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculties?post=137075"},{"taxonomy":"news-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urd.ac.ir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-category?post=137075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Opening Remarks by Session Chair Dr. Mohammad Taher Gholitabar<\/h3>\n
Prof. Grigoris Zarotiadis \u2014 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki<\/h3>\n
Dr. Panayotis Kourgiotis \u2014 University of Macedonia<\/h3>\n
\n
Dr. Alexis Lekakis \u2014 Panteion University, Athens<\/h3>\n
Remarks by Hojjatoleslam Dr. Mohammad Masjed Jamei<\/h3>\n
Three Proposals for Strategic Academic Cooperation<\/h3>\n
\n
Closing Remarks<\/h3>\n