'Islamic Awakening defies despotism'

Press TV - Secretary General of the International Islamic Awakening Conference Ali Akbar Velayati says fighting despotism is among the major causes of the popular uprisings across the Arab world.

The new popular movements call for the reduction of the governments' authority and their power and control, Velayati said at the inauguration ceremony of the Islamic Awakening and Youth conference in Iran's capital city, Tehran, on Sunday. 

These movements also stress people's political and social rights, he added. 

Velayati noted that fighting the hegemonic order and the global arrogance, decreasing their interference in Muslim countries, asserting the rights of the Palestinian nation and strengthening the Islamic identity are among the demands of the Islamic movements in the regional nations. 

He warned that the West is trying to undermine the sweeping Islamic movements through propaganda campaigns. 

Nearly 1,200 young participants from 73 countries are in Iran to attend the two-day International Conference on the Islamic Awakening and Youth in Tehran.