Senior Iranian Cleric Hails Iraq’s Progress in Fighting Terrorism
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Tehran's Provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said there are many signs indicating Iraq’s success against the terrorists operating in the country.
Addressing a large group of worshippers here in Tehran, Ayatollah Jannati said Iraq has made achievements in the fight against terrorists and there are many indications of the militants’ defeat.
Over the past weeks, Iraqi armed forces have been engaged in fierce clashes with the Takfiri militants of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) who took control of large swathes of the Arab country and have threatened to take their acts of violence to the capital, Baghdad.
The ISIL’s advance, however, has been slowed down as Iraqi military and volunteer forces continue their mop-up operations across the country, inflicting heavy losses on the group.
Ayatollah Jannati lauded senior Iraqi Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for his Fatwa (religious decree) that mobilized popular forces against the terrorists.
On June 13, Ayatollah Sistani issued a Fatwa calling on the Iraqi people to take up arms and defend their country against Takfiri militants belonging to the ISIL. Since the decree was issued, thousands of Iraqis have volunteered to fight the militants.
Tehran's interim Friday Prayers leader further slammed the international bodies for remaining silent over the atrocities committed by the ISIL terrorists in Iraq.
Turning to the Zionist regime’s latest strikes on Palestinians, Ayatollah Jannati said the Palestinian people are paying for their resistance against the US, Britain and Israel.
More than 100 Palestinians have so far been killed since Israel began pounding targets in the Gaza Strip earlier this week. Palestinian sources say one third of the casualties are women and children.
Israel has also mobilized 20,000 soldiers for a possible ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.