Addressing the opening ceremony of the 40th International Islamic Unity Conference, held in Tehran on Thursday, Pezeshkian said Islamic unity does not mean that Muslims must become identical or abandon their religious, political and national differences. Rather, he said, unity means ensuring that differences do not turn Muslims into enemies and that political disputes never justify one Muslim country supporting an attack on another.

He stressed that the Islamic world needs unity based on truth, justice and mutual responsibility.

Pezeshkian said more than two billion Muslims live in 57 Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states, which possess vast energy resources, strategic trade routes, large markets, young populations and significant scientific and technological capacities.

Yet, he noted, the combined economic weight and intra-Muslim trade remain below their potential, arguing that the central problem is the failure to transform these dispersed capabilities into common will and power.

Referring to the recent US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, Pezeshkian said Iran was not the initiator of the conflict and had the right to defend itself against military aggression. At the same time, he stressed that defending Iran should not mean hostility toward neighboring or Muslim nations, declaring that “no Islamic land should become a platform for aggression against another Islamic country.”

He said Iran is ready to establish common security arrangements with its neighbors and reiterated Tehran’s support for Palestine as a matter of defending the oppressed, rather than sectarian affiliation.

Pezeshkian also proposed a mutual security and non-aggression pact among Muslim countries, a permanent mechanism within the OIC for mediation and conflict prevention, and broader economic, scientific and technological cooperation.

The president said Islamic unity must begin within individual countries through justice, combating corruption and discrimination, and protecting the dignity of all citizens.