TEHRAN (FNA) -- The Assyrian- Chaldean Church, the main Christian church in Iran, appreciated Islamic Republic officials for enshrining equal rights for all Iranian ethnic and religious groups. Chaldean Catholic Church Bishop of Orumiyeh Thomas Mirm made the remarks in a Christmas day ceremony held to celebrate birth anniversary of Jesus Christ in Iran's northwestern province of Azerbaijan on Tuesday. Mirm called Iran as a good example of peaceful co-existence of all religious sects with each other. "All people regardless of their religious affiliation can progress forward and have prosperous life in Iran including the West Azerbaijan province," the Christian religious leader added. In October 2008, the secretary-general of the International Union of Assyrians said religious minorities can best live in the Islamic Republic of Iran. "Iran is the safest country in the world for religious minorities," said Yonatan Bet-Kolia, who also represented Assyrians and Chaldeans in the Iranian Parliament at the time. Bet-Kolia was appointed as the new secretary-general of the International Union of Assyrians in September. In mid-October 2008, the union relocated its central office to Iran after four decades of presence in the United States. Bet-Kolia said that while some '600,000 Assyrians in the United States are not represented in the US Congress', some 20,000 Assyrians living in Iran have a representative in the Iranian Parliament. "I cannot name a country that respects the rights of minorities as Iran does," he concluded.