The Urgent Imperative for Peace in the Middle East and Iran: A Multireligious Statement

10 April 2026

We, senior religious leaders, and representatives from the world’s faith traditions, hereby speak with a single heart. As the human family stands on a dangerous precipice, our religions call us to find the courage to be peacemakers, and we embrace this calling even as we reject the ways that some within our religious communities have and continue to misuse their religious teachings to foster violence.

The conflict that erupted on February 28, 2026, between Israel and the United States, and Iran—now in its forty-second day—has already claimed thousands of lives, wounded many more, and displaced millions. Iranian, Israeli, Lebanese, and communities across the Gulf States alike have suffered under missile barrages, airstrikes, and ground operations. Proxy fronts in Lebanon and Yemen have reignited with fresh intensity, while strikes have targeted military, energy, civilian, and nuclear-related sites. Innocent blood has stained the Holy Land and the wider region. This is a desecration of the sacred spark in every person.

The extreme dangers remain both immediate and longer-term. Homes, schools, hospitals, factories, cultural heritage, and sacred sites revered by billions have been destroyed or damaged. Families across Iran, Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, the Gulf States, and beyond bury their dead while ordinary citizens seek refuge in shelters or flee as refugees. A humanitarian catastrophe continues to unfold, risking the collapse of basic services threatening millions.

Escalation risks drawing in more nations and shattering the fragile threads of international order. The disruption of the Strait of Hormuz has convulsed oil markets and supply chains, threatening economic ruin for vulnerable populations worldwide. Strikes near nuclear facilities have raised the specter of a radiological disaster; ecological damage mounts. Diminished respect for international law has seriously eroded the parties’ ability to find solutions.

In this grave context, we welcome the April 7–8, 2026 announcement of a two-week conditional ceasefire between Iran, the United States, and Israel, brokered with Pakistan’s assistance. This pause offers a critical window for de-escalation and dialogue. Yet we are deeply concerned that the ceasefire is not unanimously understood as including all parties to the conflict and that active hostilities persist on many fronts.

Together, we urge the following pathway to a just and lasting peace:

Immediate and sustained comprehensive ceasefire. All parties—Israel, the United States, Iran, and their respective allies and proxies—must immediately and fully halt war operations across every theater, including Lebanon and other proxy fronts.

The current two-week pause must be fully honored and transformed into a permanent ceasefire.

This must include an end to all attacks on civilians—including displaced peoples, women, girls, and all children. It must honor freedom of religion, including the conducting of services in the Holy Land and throughout the region, as well as the opening of humanitarian corridors for food, medical care, and fuel.

Inclusive diplomatic negotiations. Direct talks must urgently address core grievances: a nuclear-weapons-free region and world, mutual security guarantees, ending of proxy wars,  accountability for harm inflicted, and the legitimate aspirations of all peoples for safety, dignity, and self-determination. Talks in Islamabad today, April 10, should build on the current ceasefire and advance concrete agreements, consistent with and guided by international law.

Accelerate humanitarian efforts. A global coalition, working with the Red Cross, Red Crescent, UN agencies, NGOs, and faith-based organizations from all traditions, must deliver unconditional emergency aid.

Trust-building and economic integration. Prepare to advance simultaneous people-to-people exchanges that advance mutual understanding, acknowledge the pain and the fear of one another, and promote solidarity across religions, states, and cultures. Civil society—especially youth, women, and elders of all faiths—must play a central role.

Long-term moral and legal responsibility. Establish in a timely fashion a truth, restorative justice, healing, and reconciliation process, drawing on moral wisdom from diverse traditions and global models.

We, as representatives of the world’s faith communities, pledge our services as peacemakers. We will accompany every step with prayer, interfaith solidarity, moral witness, and practical service. We commit to mobilizing our religious communities to serve as peacemakers, including reaching across conflict lines to fellow religious leaders. We will stand with all who suffer—Palestinian, Iranian, Lebanese, Israeli, peoples of the Gulf States, and others—until violence ends and a just peace is secured.

Our youth do not deserve to inherit a world in fragments, fractured by violence and fear. Instead, let us seek to pass on a peaceful world where relational human dignity is primary.

Peace is more than the absence of war; it is shared flourishing. We dedicate ourselves to a sacred-based shared flourishing that honors our religious differences while recognizing that true flourishing is sacred-based and inherently relational. This is our human family’s true destiny.

May the children of the Earth—of every faith and culture—live together in justice, mercy, compassion, and sacred-based Peace. May the One Who is Compassionate, Just, and All-Loving, the Ultimate Reality, grant us the wisdom, courage, and humility to turn from death to life, from enmity to solidarity, and from ruin to renewal.

Let us begin—now.

Religions for Peace International Executive Committee Members:

• H.E. Shaykh Dr. Abdallah Bin Bayyah, President, Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace; Co-Moderator, Religions for Peace
• Rev. Kosho Niwano, President-Designate, Rissho Kosei-Kai; Co-Moderator, Religions for Peace
• H.E. Metropolitan Emmanuel, Elder Metropolitan of Chalcedon; Co-Moderator, Religions for Peace
• Dr. Kezevino Aram, President, Shanti Ashram; Co-Moderator, Religions for Peace
• Hon. Dr. Layla Al-Khafaji, Elected Member of Political Bureau-Alhikmah Movement; Former Member of Iraqi Council of Representatives – Parliament; Former International Relations Director – Al Hakim Foundation; Co-President, Religions for Peace
• Dr. Renz C. Argao, President & CEO, Argao Health Inc.; Chief Psychologist, Argao Psych; Coordinator, International Youth Committee, Religions for Peace; Moderator, Asia & the Pacific Interfaith Youth Network
• H.E. Cardinal Charles Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar; President, Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar; Co-President, Religions for Peace
• Rev. Sr. Agatha Ogochukwu Chikelue, Co-Chair, Nigerian & African Women of Faith Network; Executive Director, Cardinal Onaiyekan Foundation for Peace (COFP); Co-President, Religions for Peace
• Mufti Dr. Nedzad Grabus, Grand Mufti of Sarajevo, Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Co-President, Religions for Peace
• H.E. Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Archbishop of Bangui, Central African Republic; Co-President, Religions for Peace
• Chief Rabbi David Rosen, Special Advisor to the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi; Co-President, Religions for Peace
• Prof. Dr. Nayla Tabbara, Co-Founder, Adyan Foundation; Co-President, Religions for Peace
• Dr. Francis Kuria, Secretary General, Religions for Peace

With:

• H.E. Sheikh Al-Mafoudh bin Bayyah, Secretary General, Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace
• Ms. Debra Boudreaux, Chief International Affairs Officer, Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation
• Ms. Marianne Ejdersten, Communications Director, World Council of Churches
• Dr. Mohamed Elsanousi, Executive Director, Network of Religious and Traditional Peacemakers
• Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, General Secretary, ACT Alliance
• Pastor Bob Roberts, Jr., Founder, GlocalNet; Co-founder, Multi-Faith Neighbors Network
• Rabbi David Saperstein, Director Emeritus, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
• Professor Jim Wallis, Chair and Director of The Center on Faith and Justice, Georgetown University
• Dr. William Vendley, President, New Alliance of Virtue

Download the Statement