Iran firm against terrorism worldwide: Indian cleric

In an exclusive interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Maulana Ahmad Majlisi who leads Friday prayers sermons in India's biggest Muslim university, Aligarh, said that Iran has been fighting terrorism for a long time and strived hard to confront international terrorism.

'Terrorist groups such as the ISIS, Jabha al-Nusra and the al-Qaeda have been created by the West, the United States and Saudi Arabia to destroy Islam but Iran successfully fought and suppressed them in Syria and Iraq to protect the Islamic Ummah,' he said.

'The world witnessed the massacre of innocent people in Iraq and Syria but it was only Iran, who out of its goodwill, sent forces there to combat terrorists and even sacrificed brave people Mohsen Hojaji stop spread of terrorism.'

He believed every single Iranian martyr sacrificed in its fight against international terrorism in Syria and Iraq, played a huge role in destroying the violent and ruthless wave of terrorism in the region.

'They fought against terrorism in Syria, but the ultimate objective of the sacrifices they made there was to protect the entire world against terrorism.'

The maulana stressed that such people could play role models to entire humanity.

Referring to the world famous poetry by the great Iranian poet Saadi Shirazi on the need for people to value the integrity amongst human being as a single entity, he added: 'Through the sacrifices of its combatants, Iran has sent the message to the world that man cannot live selfishly and disregard the suffering of other human beings.'

The prayer leader of Aligarh University also hailed Iran's role in preventing spread of terrorism to other parts of the world including Europe, saying, 'If Iran were not fighting terrorism, then terrorism would have spread throughout Europe and other continents. Iran is fighting terrorism to protect the whole humanity to protect people everywhere including America, Europe, Britain and other countries against terrorism.'

He highlighted the role of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in supporting terrorism and said, 'Saudi Arabia and its allies have been supporting terrorist groups such as ISIS and spending a lot of money on forming this terrorist group in Syria and Iraq. Islamic countries have forgotten their main enemies following Saudi Arabia.'

'The King of Saudi Arabia is now linked to the Zionist regime and only seeks a war. Islamic countries must maintain their unity. If Muslims acted on the basis of Imam Khomeini's(PBUH) fatwas (religious decress), they now would have ruled the world, but because they deviated from this path, the result is the spread of terrorism in the Muslim world.'

As for Washington's hostilities against Tehran because of Iran's anti-terrorism policies and actions, Maulana Ahmad Majlisi said, 'In America's history, the worst hostilities have been done towards Iran. America has chosen many politicians to strike Iran, but they have never succeeded in achieving this goal.'

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