Iran President Hassan Rouhani arrives on 3-day trip to India

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will attend prayers at the Mecca mosque in Hyderabad on Friday and address a congregation expected to be attended by religious scholars from several sects and ideologies. (AP/File)

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday evening addressed Muslim intellectuals, religious scholars and students at an interaction held at a hotel in the city. Rouhani also interacted with Iranian students studying in Hyderabad, where about 40,000 Iranians live. Earlier, Rouhani arrived at Begumpet airport on a three-day tour of India. He was received by MoS (Power) R K Singh and Governor for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana E S L Narasimhan.

On Friday, he will attend prayers at the Mecca mosque and address a congregation expected to be attended by religious scholars from several sects and ideologies. Both Shias and Sunnis offer prayers at Mecca mosque. He will also visit Golconda Fort, Salar Jung museum, and Qutub Shahi tombs. He will leave for New Delhi late Friday evening. This is Rouhani’s second visit to Hyderabad and the first after becoming president.

Rouhani chose to begin his three-day visit from Hyderabad as the city has a long history of cultural and religious ties with Iran. The Qutub Shahi rulers who ruled Hyderabad from 1518-1687 were Shias from Iran. In fact, the architect and town planner of Hyderabad, Mir Momin, was Iranian and the city has similarities to Isfahan in Iran. The foundation of the Mecca mosque was laid by Qutub Shahi ruler Sultan Mohammed Qutub Shah VI in 1616 but was completed by Aurangzeb, a Sunni, in 1694.