In a letter dated late January, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to warn against increasing Islamophobia in the western world. Zarif has also criticized western double standards towards values such as freedom of expression and has urged international consensus in reaching practical solutions to bring violence and extremism to an end. The letter was sent along with Ayatollah Khamenei's message to the youth in North American and Europe which was released in mid-January with the hashtag #Letter4U mostly on Twitter and other social media.
