[caption id="attachment_151922" align="alignright" width="215"] Iran’s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri met with senior Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Es’haq Fayyaz in the Iraqi city of Najaf on February 18, 2015.[/caption]

Iran’s first vice president has underlined the significant role that religious scholars play in Iraq’s ongoing fight against ISIL Takfiri terrorists.

Es'haq Jahangiri said Wednesday that the religious scholars have successfully guided people to stand up against terrorist groups.

“Iraq was faced with a big conspiracy that could have harmed the entire country and the Shias, but people came into the scene through the foresight and fatwas issued by sources of emulation, and the threat was significantly repelled,” Jahangiri said in a meeting with senior Iraqi cleric, Ayatollah Muhammad Es'haq Fayyaz, in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf.

Jahangiri added that ISIL terrorists aim to expand their terror to countries and territories beyond Iraq in order to “distort the image of Islam.”

ISIL Takfiri militants, who control swathes of land in Iraq and the neighboring Syria, continue their inhumane campaign against the civilians and government forces under the guise of implementing the Islamic Sharia law.

Religious scholars in Muslim countries, including Shias and Sunnis, have unanimously denounced the group’s horrifying acts of violence, urging their followers to shun the terrorists and their interpretations of the religious teachings. Last June, Iraq’s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani issued a fatwa urging Muslims to do their utmost to fight the terrorist groups.

Elsewhere in the meeting, Jahangiri said Iraq is fighting against the terrorists on behalf of the entire world and the Muslims in particular, expressing hope that the Arab country could “get rid of the terrorists” soon.

Ayatollah Fayyaz, for his part, highlighted the fact that Iran is the sole official Shia state in the world, and said there is a necessity to empower and strengthen Iran as the country is faced with growing enmity.

Jahangiri arrived in Iraq on Monday and is to wrap his three-day visit later on Wednesday. During his stay in the country, the senior Iranian official met with high-ranking members of the Iraqi government in Baghdad. He also held meetings with senior Shia clerics in Najaf.

By Press TV