Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei has expressed gratitude to Iraq\u2019s religious leadership and people for their \u201cexplicit\u201d stance on what he described as an unlawful war by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic. <\/p>\n
In a message on Sunday, Khamenei commended the support of senior Iraqi clerics and the public for Iran in the face of the US-Israeli \u201cwar of aggression,\u201d which, he said, began on February 28 with the assassination of then\u2013Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several senior commanders, News.Az<\/a> reports, citing Iran\u2019s English-language Press TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s ambassador to Baghdad, Mohammad Kazem Ale Sadeq, delivered the leader\u2019s message to the head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Sheikh Humam Hamoudi.<\/p>\n In a statement read out during Eid al-Fitr prayers on March 21, Iraq\u2019s top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali al-Sistani, strongly condemned the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran.<\/p>\n Sistani said that \u201cthe flames of fire\u201d were engulfing homes in Iran and Lebanon as the two countries faced military aggression.<\/p>\n \u201cWe use the strongest words to condemn this oppressive war and call on all Muslims and freedom-seekers around the world to condemn it and show solidarity with the oppressed nations of Iran and Lebanon,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n Sistani also called on influential countries and global actors, as well as Muslim states, to do their utmost to help stop the \u201caggression.\u201d<\/p>\n Following Sistani\u2019s call for aid to Iran and Lebanon, the first convoy of Iraqi assistance was sent to Iran.<\/p>\n