TEHRAN - In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has asked the UN to do everything in its power to protect Iraq’s holy sites against terrorist acts.

The call came after high-ranking Shia clerics from the Qom and Najaf seminaries gave Khatami the mission to hold talks with international officials on their behalf in order to start efforts to prevent terrorist attacks against holy sites in Iraq.
“By announcing the deep and considerable concern of the leading religious maraj’e (Shia clerics regarded as sources of emulation) and ulema, now I want you, the United Nations, and affiliated organizations, and especially UNESCO, to use all your potential and capabilities to defend the sanctity of religion, the things the people regard as holy, and sacred places so that threats of sectarian violence will be halted in Iraq and every other place in the world,” part of the letter reads.
Khatami added that international organizations should remind the occupiers that they are responsible for preventing crime and establishing security.
In separate letters to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, and OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the former Iranian president has called for the use of all the means of Iraq and the Arab and Islamic world to establish security in Iraq, protect the sacred places, and safeguard the lives of the people.
In his letter to Maliki, Khatami said: “Today, everyone should feel responsible for Iraq’s territorial integrity and national unity and for the elimination of elements that are a source of insecurity in Iraq, and should make serious efforts to strengthen the legitimate and popular government….”
The terrorists have bombed the Al-Askari Shrine in northern Iraq twice since U.S. troops occupied Iraq. The Al-Askari Shrine, part of the Imam Ali al-Hadi (AS) mausoleum, is one of Shia Islam’s holiest sites and attracts pilgrims from around the world.
Similar bombings have been carried out near the shrines of Imam Ali (AS) and Imam Hussein (AS) in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala