Hasan Shariatmadari: “Iran Transition Council is an alternative to Islamic Republic”

In a recent TV interview, the Secretary General of the “Iran Transition Council”, Hassan Shariatmadari, talked about the separation of religious institutions and state. He said, “I learnt about Secularism from my father’s teachings and became very interested in the subject. Ever since I moved to Germany, I’ve participated actively in the establishment of those political organizations in which the separation of religious institutions and state has been considered one of the basic principles. And unfailingly, I’ve remained faithful to Secularism.”

The Secretary General continued, “Yet it is obvious that when the necessity of such separation is brought up, we in fact are an alternative to the Islamic Republic which is a mixture of political power and religion. But after the real, serious symptoms of the system’s collapse were revealed, I came to the conclusion that it would be inadequate to declare only one alternative or a theoretical thesis statement against the regime.An alternative that believes in secularism, democracy, human rights, territorial integrity and fighting against all forms of discrimination. I can see such an alternative within the Iran Transition Council to which I serve as secretary general.”