Iran trains volunteers to fight ISIS

Reports in Turkey claim that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have trained Iraqi volunteers to fight against ISIS. Anadolu news agency reported on Friday that the news was confirmed by Mohammadi Golpayegani, the head of the office of the Supreme Leader of the Iranian Revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Golpayegani revealed the training when he spoke at a meeting in the Iranian city of Qum. He announced his support for a legal opinion (fatwa) by Iraq’s Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, which calls for jihad against ISIS.

“Without this fatwa,” said Golpayegani, “many Iraqi cities, including Al-Najaf, Karbala and Baghdad, would have been captured by the terrorist organisation.”

He claimed that ISIS is supported by the United States and Israel, and called for everyone to take up arms, based on Al-Sistani’s fatwa, and face ISIS.