A group of students from the religious seminary in Najaf Al-Ashraf expressed serious concern and condemnation today, Friday, regarding the decision to suspend air flights between Najaf Al-Ashraf Airport and other airports and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The group stated in a statement received by the News Video Agency that this action came in response to external pressures and sanctions that do not rely on an independent Iraqi decision that considers the interests of the Iraqi people and the sovereignty of the country. They pointed out that Najaf Al-Ashraf and the holy shrines are deeply connected to the Iranian people and other nations through religious, scientific, social, and historical ties, and that disrupting means of transportation directly affects visitors, students, patients, and traders.
The statement added that compliance with the dictates of arrogant countries with the intent of besieging a Muslim people and harming their civil interests raises serious legal, moral, and sovereign issues. They cited texts and Quranic verses that call for cooperation in righteousness and piety, and for not aiding injustice or allowing the way for the disbelievers over the believers. They emphasized that the foundation of relations should be righteousness and fairness, fulfilling the needs of the believers, and not turning disputes into a means to harm people's lives.
The statement called on the Iraqi government and parliament to consider the interests of the country and its people in a way that preserves Iraq's sovereignty, independence of its decisions, and the interests of its people and visitors to the holy shrines, and to avoid making Iraqi institutions a means to implement external pressures.