Mohammad Bagherr Ghalibaf received the visiting Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East Mar Awa III in Tehran for a meeting on Monday afternoon.
Patriarch Mar Awa III was in Tehran for the fourth round of the dialogue between Islam and the Assyrian Church of the East in order to strengthen bilateral relations with Iran.
In the meeting, Ghalibaf noted that the Christians are living peacefully with their fellow Iranians in Iran.
He added that the Christians are represented in the Iranian parliament and the Iranian laws protect them.
He further pointed to the anti-terrorism campaign by the Iranian government, most notably by Martyr Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani’s campaign in Iraq, especially in Kirkuk and Nineveh to protect the Christain minority against ISIL terrorism, saying that the Islamic Republic of Iran has shown its commitment to defending the religious minority in practice. 
The patriarch, for his part. said that Iran is home to a sizeable population of Christains, stressing that “Dialogues between Muslims and Christians will have many benefits for the world today.”
MNA/5780892