PHOTO: Ayatollah Emami Kashani — “Global arrogance seeks to wipe out Islam”

Amid regional crises, the Tehran Friday Prayer has tried to rally Iranians against a triple enemy of Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the US.

Ayatollah Emami Kashani declared yesterday that Islam faces not only the Islamic State and “Takfiri terrorists” — a reference to the civil wars in Iraq and Syria — but also an “ominous triangle of Saudi money, Zionist policy, and US power”.

Emami Kashani explained that the only person who can set out the Islamic Revolution at home and abroad is the Supreme Leader: “He stands at the peak, where he sees all the world and then makes remarks.”

Asserting that the “global arrogance seeks to wipe out Islam”, Emami Kashani called for unity. He pointed to the situation in Bahrain, where the regime is suppressing dissent — “The Muslim world must sympathize with the oppressed Muslims of Bahrain” — and to Pakistan:

They beat and kill Shias in Pakistan. Some Shia clerics have protested the violence, along with some Sunni scholars. Even Christian scholars support them, but the government is silent.

Tehran Congratulates Iraq on Fallujah Victory

Iran is celebrating a breakthrough for Iraqi forces against the Islamic State in the city of Fallujah in the west of the country.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sent a message to Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari:

Undoubtedly the impressive victories achieved in the decisive battle of Fallujah during the holy month of Ramadan is the manifestation of divine assistance to those who fight toward the path of God..

I am truly confident that by relying on God Almighty, adherence to national unity, and using national capacities, the great nation of Iraq will achieve even greater victories against Takfiri terrorists and their allies.

On Friday the Iraqi forces — supported by Iranian commanders and US-led airstrikes — retook the main government compound in the center of Fallujah from the Islamic State. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that Iraqi security forces were in control “except for small pockets that need to be cleared within the coming hours”.

ISIS has controlled Fallujah since early 2014.