Highlights of Ayatollah Iravani’s trip to Iraq CSIME executive director, Ahmad Iravani, visited Iraq from January 14-22 with goals of advancing CSIME mission and vision by expanding ties and fostering future joint interfaith endeavors. While in Iraq, Iravani traveled to Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala to discuss mutual agendas and exchange views with 18 prominent religious and political leaders. In the first phase of the trip while visiting Baghdad, Ayatollah Iravani met with H.E. Sayyid Ammar al-Hakim, the president of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, one of the largest political parties in the country. H.E. Al-Hakim has had a positive impact throughout the Islamic world in cultural, social and political fields for his faith in interfaith dialogue, acceptance of others and continuous opposition to violence and extremism. Afterwards a discussion was scheduled with Sheikh Dr. Human Hamoudi, one of the most important figures in Iraqi politics today. Sheikh Hamoudi is a member of the Council of Representatives of Iraq representing the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA). Sheikh Hamoudi is second in command of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council . Third on the agenda was meeting with the head of Iraq’s Shia Endowment, Sayyid Saleh Al-Heidari. Before his departure for Najaf and Karbala, Ayatollah Iravani met with Dr. Adil Abdul-Mahdi al-Muntajiki a politician, economist, and one of the Vice Presidents of Iraq from 2005 to 2011. He was formerly the Finance Minister in the Interim government. In the second phase of the trip Ayatollah Iravani visited Najaf, the holiest city in Shi’ite Islam and the center of political power in Iraq, and also Karbala, the second holiest city in Shi’ite Islam. While in Najaf, Ayatollah Iravani met with Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Sa’id al-Tabataba’I al-Hakim. Grand Ayatollah al-Hakim is one of the five members of the Hawza of Najaf and the second most senior Shiite cleric after Ayatollah al-Sistani. Dr. Iravani discussed issues facing the Muslim Community in the United States, in particular the Shi’ite community, and what steps need to be taken for greater mutual cooperation and dialogue. Next, Sheikh Iravani met with Secretariats-General of the Imam Hussein and El-Abbas holy shrines, Sayyid Ahmed El-Safi. In Ayatollah Iravani’s honor, Sayyid Hossein al-Hakim, along with invited top scholars from the Howzeh Ilmiyya Najaf (the seminary traditional Islamic school of higher learning in Najaf) hosted a tribute dinner. They thanked Ayatollah Iravani for his international interfaith endeavors and dedication to higher education and hoped that greater cooperation be established in the future. From there Ayatollah Iravani met with Ayatollah Barh ol-Oloom, a distinguished scholar, politician and the current president of the higher institution in Kufa. Through this trip, Ayatollah Iravani believes CSIME’s relations with Iraqi partners and institutions entered a new phase and hopes this trend continues. CSIME hopes Ayatollah Iravani’s dialogue with prominent Iraqi leaders will serve as a positive example for further future dialogue throughout the region.