Hawzah News Agency (Najaf, Iraq) – Senior Shia scholar Grand Ayatollah Bashir al-Najafi received Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis along with some other high ranking military officials in his house on Monday, July 17.

During the meeting, the Shia cleric asserted, "The recent victories of the Iraqi security forces belong to all the people of Iraq. These victories were achieved with the help of Allah (swt) and it’s our duty, as a whole Iraqi nation, to maintain our unity and integrity in order to neutralize the future enemies’ plots."

The Shia source of emulation added, "What concerns me the most is the presence of foreign military forces in Iraq; the Turkish government must also recognize this situation and respect the independence and sovereignty of Iraq."

In a separate meeting with some university students from different Iraqi provinces, Grand Ayatollah al-Najafi underlined the importance of scientific breakthroughs in present Iraq and concluded, "The seminaries and universities are together on this path and they should complement each other."

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