Justice is I.R. blessing for Iranian ethnic, religious groups Orumieh, Dec 26, IRNA - Assyrian-Chaldean Catholic Church Bishop of Orumieh Thomas Mirm said here on Tuesday, justice and the rule of law are Islamic Republic's blessing for various Iranian ethnic and religious groups.

He made the remarks in a ceremony held to celebrate the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ. 'Justice, the rule of law and public security are the main needs of every society which have been provided by the Islamic Republic for all Iranian ethnic and religious groups.' Mirm called Iran as a good example of peaceful co-existence of all religious sects with each other. 'All people regardless of their religious affiliation can progress forward and have prosperous life in Iran including the West Azarbijan.' Orumieh Governor Javad Sharif Nejad also made a speech there and called Orumieh as a good model of peaceful living of various cultures with each other. Iran is an ethnically diverse country and interethnic relations are generally amicable. Persians form the majority of the population. However, historically the terms 'Iran' and 'Persia' have referred to a confederation of all groups native to the Iranian Plateau, and the speakers of Iranian languages, whether located in Iran or not. Therefore, historically, the use of the term 'Persian' has included all the various regional dialects and subgroups of Iran. The main ethno-linguistic minority groups in Iran are the Azeris, Kurds, Balochs, Arabs, Turkmens, Pashtuns, Armenians, Georgians, Assyrians and Jews. The tribal groups include the Bakhtiaris, Khamseh, Lurs, Qashqai, as well as others. While many Iranians identify with a secondary ethnic, religious, linguistic, or regional background in some way, the primary identity unifying virtually all of these sub-groups is their distinctly Iranian language, or culture. Though many of the tribal groups have become urbanized over the decades, some continue to function as rural tribal societies.