West's enmity to Iran is opposition to Muslim progress: Ahmadi-Nejad

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad of Iran, currently in Indonesia, said on today that West's hostility towards Iran was in line with its opposition to progress and development of the Muslim nations.

Ahmadi-Nejad's remark came during a meeting with leaders and staff of Indonesia's largest Muslim society, Nahdat-ul Ulema Movement, which represents over 40 million Muslims in Indonesia.

The president urged Muslim leaders to make the most of the genuine present opportunities to promote Islam worldwide courageously.

Referring to Iran's peaceful nuclear programs, President Ahmadi-Nejad said "Enemies want to use sciences and technologies as a leverage to impose pressures on independent nations." He said that liberalism, like Marxism, would be shelved in history in a near future, as the two schools of thoughts failed to meet challenges of the current world.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Nahdat-ul Ulema Movement, Hashim Muzadi, said for his part that the body supported Iran's peaceful nuclear programs, adding that Muslim parties in the Islamic countries should close their ranks in order to strengthen unity among the Islamic nations.

Speaking to Indonesia's State Islamic University students, he said "the world's arrogant powers intended to have monopoly over all sciences and technologies so that they could use them as a means to expand their domination over independent states." President Ahmadi-Nejad said Muslims should try to present a clear and effective image of Islam to the world.