Reuters - Iraq’s senior shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani condemned on Thursday U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.


'‘This decision is condemned and decried, it hurt the feelings of hundreds of millions of Arabs and Muslims,‘’ said a statement from Sistani’s office.


'‘But it won’t change the reality that Jerusalem is an occupied land which should return to the sovereignty of its Palestinian owners no matter how long it takes,‘’ it said, calling on the '‘Umma’', or Islamic nation, '‘to combine its efforts that purpose.‘’




Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Angus MacSwan