International conference on Iran starts in Sweden

ANKARA (AA) - A two-day conference on Iran organized by the Ankara-based Tabriz Research Institute began in Stockholm Saturday.

Iran's ethnicity, sectarian structure, political participation and pluralism were being discussed at the conference entitled "Political Pluralism and the Future of Participation of the Nationalities in Iran".

Iranian journalists, researchers and media members were addressing the conference.

The Tabriz Research Institute began in April under the chairmanship of Riza Heyet. The institute researches the language and culture as well as political, social and financial structure of nations and communities in contact with Turks, especially Iran and Azerbaijan.

At the end of the day, the organizers released a summary of the conference’s first day and alleged that many foreign powers were getting involved in the Iranian region because of sectarian and ethnic conflicts.

“The problems of the people and minorities in Iran are undoubtedly the biggest problem in the country’s last century of history. We see that many of these problems have been caused by ethnic and sectarian discrimination,” the statement said.

“We would like to organize a symposium to address these problems,” it added.