U.S. religious leaders meet with Iran's president, stress diplomacy

Published: 2007-09-28

NEW YORK (CNS) -- U.S. religious leaders are "deeply concerned about the prospect of war with Iran," said a professor from a Catholic college who was part of an interfaith delegation that met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sept. 26 in New York. But Joseph Fahey, professor of religious studies at Manhattan College in Riverdale, said he left the meeting feeling hopeful because of statements Ahmadinejad made about the "renunciation of war and the quest for peace." "This meeting was an attempt to build bridges with Iran despite the generally hostile reception President Ahmadinejad received here in New York City," Fahey said in a statement issued after the meeting. "We strongly believe that only through formal and informal diplomacy and respect for international law can there be peace between Iran and the U.S." Protests greeted Ahmadinejad while he was in New York to address the U.N. Security Council Sept. 25. He spoke to an audience at Columbia University the same day.

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