di Redazione
(FNA) – Iranian presidential candidate and former foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki met with senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in the holy city of Najaf in Southern Iraq.
Ali Hosseini Sistani is the Grand Ayatollah of Iraq. He was born in Mashhad, Iran, c.1930. Sistani is the most important Shiite leader on the scene of both religion and politics in Iraq.
He is the official religious leader of Iraqi Shiites and the most respected scholar in the holy city of Najaf, where he controls a powerful faction at the Hawza Seminary.
Mottaki held a meeting with Ayatollah Sistani during his pilgrimage to Iraq’s holy cities of Karbala and Najaf last week.
Mottaki is among several Iranian officials who have announced their candidacy for the 11th round of presidential election.
In September, the Iranian interior ministry announced that the country will hold the next presidential election on June 14, 2013.
Also in December, the ministry said that it has a close watch on all activities related to the upcoming presidential election throughout the country.
