Iran President�s special aid for religious minorities Ali Younesi[/caption]ERBIL, Kurdistan Region � Nearly a third of Iran�s parliament has called on Iran�s president to dismiss one of his vice presidents for claiming that �all of the Middle East is Iranian.
Iranian media reports said Sunday that 109 MPs in the 290-seat parliament had written to President Hassan Rouhani, asking him to fire Ali Younesi, his advisor for ethnic affairs and religious minorities.�
Younesi�s remarks would fuel �fear of Iran, (and) the Islamophobia that the enemies of the Islamic revolution have been pointing to in their media time and again,� the MPs said in their letter.
Media reports quoted them as saying that from the time he assumed his position Younesi has followed an �inflammatory and divisive� agenda.
The letter called on the president to fire his advisor because �he insists on his wrong position.�
At a forum in Tehran earlier this month Younesi declared that �all of the Middle East is Iranian,� causing alarm around the Arab world and beyond, especially in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
�At the moment Iraq is not only the bastion of our civilization, it is also our identity, culture and capital and this is true now as in the past,� Younesi said in his speech.
�The geography of Iran and Iraq cannot be divided,� said Younesi, a former intelligence minister, speaking at a forum titled �Iran: nationality, history and heritage.�
His remarks came only days after Saudi Arabia�s foreign minister expressed alarm that �Iran is taking over Iraq.� Iran exercises immense influence in neighboring Iraq, with some of its top military commanders known to be directing the fighting against Islamic State (ISIS) militants.�
Following Younesi�s comments � which his defenders said had been misinterpreted -- the Lebanese government summoned the Iranian ambassador in Beirut for an explanation.
Iran�s National Security Advisor Ali Larijani told a Kuwaiti TV channel that Younesi�s words had been mistranslated and that the vice president �had only raised the issue of cultural harmony.�
By Rudaw
