Iranian President Sheikh Hasan Rouhani said Tuesday that Muslim countries are not using their capacity fully and properly, urging Muslims to regain self-confidence.

Iranian President Sheikh Hasan Rouhani said Tuesday that Muslim countries are not using their capacity fully and properly, urging Muslims to regain self-confidence.

Rouhani delivered a speech in the opening session of the 9th meeting of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Member States (PUIC). Twenty-eight parliamentary speakers are participating in the two-day meeting in Tehran.

''Muslims are facing major challenges, including security and economic crises, lack of social order, the 60-year-old problem in Palestine and the new political crisis in Syria,” said Rouhani.

He said the Islamic states' parliamentary union is 'a chance to move towards a more moderate world'.

Earlier in the day, President Rouhani said that "new measures should be taken to solidify unity in the world of Islam."

"We will channel our efforts in the same direction," he told Ogtay Asadov, Speaker of Azerbaijani Parliament, on the sidelines of the conference.

ˈRelations with Azerbaijan is of importance for us and they should expand in all economic, cultural and political spheres,ˈ he said.