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Iran Warns ISIS: These Are Our Red Lines

TEHRANIranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli has warned the Sunni Islamist terror group ISIS not to approach Iranian territory or the Shia shrines in Iraq.

Speaking at a gathering Friday in Tabas, in eastern Iran, Fazli said that ISIS should not get closer than 40 kilometers (25 miles) to Iran's border nor attack any of the Shia holy shrines in Iraq, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported.

The shrines contain remains of relatives of the Prophet Muhammad, and are places of pilgrimage for Iranian and Iraqi Shi'a Muslims. ISIS has shown its eagerness to destroy all religious and historical monuments it considers idolatrous, in keeping with its fanatical interpretations of Sunni Islam, which generally eschews shrines or devotion to saints or religious personalities.

[rebelmouse-image 27089607 alt="""" original_size="800x600" expand=1]Iran-Iraq border. Photo: Hamidreza Sorouri / Persian Dutch Network

Fazli did not say what Iran would do if ISIS were to cross these "red lines." He did however link the terror group with the United States and Israel, referreing to the militia by its Arabic name, denouncing "Daesh and other Salafist-Zionist groups." The fact that IS was "so powerful as to go to war with governments and armies, shows the reality that it has strong backing," he said.

Fazli said Iran's "advice" and aid in recent years had helped save Iraq from "another fate." Iran is actively helping Syria's President Bashar al-Assad fight an array of rebel armies as well as terrorist groups like ISIS. On November 6, Prague-based Farsi language Radio Farda cited reports from Syria that two more members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and a member of the Hezballah, the Lebanese militia financed by Iran, had recently died in fighting in Syria.

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Future

AI As God? How Artificial Intelligence Could Spark Religious Devotion

We may be about to see the emergence of a new kind of religion, where flocks worship — literally — at the altar of Artificial Intelligence.

Image of artificial intelligence as an artificial being

Artificial intelligence generated picture of AI as a god

Neil McArthur

The latest generation of AI-powered chatbots, trained on large language models, have left their early users awestruck —and sometimes terrified — by their power. These are the same sublime emotions that lie at the heart of our experience of the divine.

People already seek religious meaning from very diverse sources. There are, for instance, multiple religions that worship extra-terrestrials or their teachings.

As these chatbots come to be used by billions of people, it is inevitable that some of these users will see the AIs as higher beings. We must prepare for the implications.

There are several pathways by which AI religions will emerge. First, some people will come to see AI as a higher power.

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