Members of a Mennonite Central Committee-led delegation said they discovered firsthand last week that building bridges between the United States and Iran is possible.

The delegation — composed of 13 leaders of the Mennonite, Quaker, Episcopal, Catholic and United Methodist churches and the National Council of Churches — visited Iran Feb. 17 to 25.

Members spoke to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about nuclear weapons development, nuclear energy and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among other topics.

"It was a good visit," delegation member Ed Martin, MCC's director for Central and South Asia, said in a telephone interview Monday night.

"We had meaningful conversation with pretty influential people. We were very well received everywhere we went."

MCC international program director Ron Flaming said the delegation's goal was to "build bridges of peace and understanding" in this time of considerable tension between the two nations.

"We are committed to working at resolving our conflicts with nonviolent ways," Flaming said. "We can build a path that will lead to mutual respect and peaceful relations between our two countries."

American leaders say Iran is developing nuclear weapons and aiding terrorists in the Iraq war — allegations Iranian officials deny.

Members of the delegation hope to continue the dialogue with leaders of both countries to reduce tensions.

Martin said the leaders of the United States and Iran have inflicted pain with their disparaging comments, but the people of both countries want the same things for their children and for the future.

"There's a need for dealing with the Iranian people and Iranian government respectfully," Martin said. "The Iranian people are proud. They have a very long history, much longer than ours. They have a rich and well-developed culture, and they expect to be treated with respect."

During the trip, delegation members met with Ahmadinejad, as well as former president Mahommad Khatami.

Flaming said Ahmadinejad was "deeply moved" by written greetings from a sixth-grade Sunday school class from Akron Mennonite Church.

The sixth-graders — who wrote their message on scrap paper after learning of the peace-building trip — told Ahmadinejad, "'We pray for peace between our countries. We pray for you. We pray for making good choices. We want you to know that God is there for you, too,'" Flaming said.

"Children have a way of saying it better than adults."

Flaming said the delegation discussed with the Iranian leaders the role faith can play in ordering society and the damaging effects of inflammatory rhetoric.

By the end of their discussion, Flaming said, Ahmadinejad indicated he was ready to talk to the American government if officials here were willing to talk to him.

The delegation also met with Iranian religious leaders, including evangelical Protestant leaders, Archbishop Sebu Sarkissian of the Armenian Orthodox Church and Iran's Muslim leaders, called the grand ayatollahs.

The Iranian religious leaders had trouble understanding why many Americans distrust Iranians, Flaming said.

The ayatollahs have issued many "fatwas," or decrees, against the production, stockpiling or use by Iran of any weapons of mass destruction, not just nuclear weapons, because the Quran prohibits their use, the delegation was told.

The fatwas and the Iranian people should be trusted, the ayatollahs argued, based on their past responsible behavior.

During the eight years of the Iran-Iraq War, Iran never retaliated with chemical weapons, even though Iraq used them, the Iranian leaders told the delegation.

"There also was affirmation (by the Iranians) that all are created by God, both Muslim and Christian," Flaming said. "The common belief we share is that we are all God's creation, and we should treat each other as part of the same family."

The Iranians stressed the distinction between the American people and American foreign policy, Flaming said.

"We see in the news of chants of 'Down with America.' That can be frightening to Americans," he said.

"But (the leaders) were adamant that (the demonstrations) were not about the American people, but American foreign policy."

Flaming said the delegation's trip was a success, and members hope to bring a contingent of Iranians to America to continue the dialogue.

"We came away convinced that many people in Iran are anxious to resolve (the tensions between the two nations) in a nonviolent way," he said.

"We need to build on that and convince our government to take steps and engage the Iranians in ways with mutual respect."

E-mail Lori Van Ingen at lvaningen@lnpnews.com.