Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi has felicitated Pope Francis, in a message on Sunday, to congratulate him on Christmas and New Year 2023.

In a message to Pope Francis on Sunday, President Ebrahim Raeisi of Iran wished a very Merry Christmas and the start of the year 2023 to the Christian world.

President Raeisi cited a Surah Maryam in holy Qoran and stressed to the head of the Catholic Church that Holy Jesus was highly regarded in the holy Quran and pointed to his remarks on the necessity of sympathy, integration, freedom and emancipation as well as the welfare of the humankind and wished that in the new Christian year, with the help of holy prophets' teachings such as Jesus and their resistance in the way of divine values, the humankind will achieve well-being and the world will be full of sympathy and unity among the nations.