Iran’s president asks pope for prayers during Vatican visit on Mideast crises

Pope Francis and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the Vatican before talks on Tuesday. (Andrew Medichini/AFP/Getty Images)

By Brian Murphy-January 26 

Iran’s president asked Pope Francis for his prayers, and the pontiff bestowed a medal depicting an early Christian saint, Tuesday in a Vatican encounter rich with spiritual symbolism but also touching on Middle East conflicts and terrorism fears.

The 40-minute meeting — the first between an Iranian president and a pope since 1999 — was something of a sideline to the wider objectives of President Hassan Rouhani’s four-day European trip, which began Monday.

Rouhani and his 120-member entourage seek mostly to drum up foreign investment from Italy and France after the lifting of international sanctions under the nuclear accord with world powers.

[Despite nuclear deal, Rouhani blasts U.S. policies]

But Rouhani also used his talks with Francis to bolster his personal image as a moderate comfortable in dealing with the West. In addition, Rouhani did not miss a chance to strengthen his calls for Iran to play a bigger role in Mideast affairs, including bids to reach a political accord in war-battered Syria.

 

Iran is a critical ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose envoys will take part in U.N.-backed peace talks that could begin later this week in Geneva. Francis, meanwhile, has frequently denounced the ongoing bloodshed in Syria, and the increasing pressures and persecution facing Christians across the region.

“I ask you to pray for me,” Rouhani said to the pope after their private meeting. He presented Francis with a carpet — about 3-by-4 feet — made in the seminary city of Qom, the center of Shiite Muslim scholarship in Iran.

Francis, in turn, gave Rouhani a medal depicting a famous act by the 4th century St. Martin: giving part of his coat to a cold beggar — a gesture Francis called “a sign of unsolicited brotherhood.”

[Italy approves cover-up for Iran visit]

Rouhani’s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, did not make a visit to the Holy See, which had joined in denunciations of his combative comments, including warnings against Israel.

Read more>>>