TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) – Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi expressed satisfaction over the departure of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife to India for medical treatment, saying that Iran is ready to offer any kind of help in this regard.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran supports these developments and expresses its readiness for any form of help,” Mousavi said on Tuesday.

He hoped that Sheikh Zakzaky’s departure for India would “create a better opportunity to solve long-standing problems between Islamic Movement of Nigeria and the government and would ensure the rights of Shia Muslims, remove the movement’s limitations and free prisoners.”

The senior Muslim cleric Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife left Nigeria for India on Monday to follow their medical treatment.

A Nigerian court ordered last week that Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife be released to go to the hospital and return for the continuation of their trial after their discharge from the hospital.

However, the Nigerian government initially resisted the call to release the senior religious figure.

Following the government’s refusal, a group of doctors from Pakistan, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq in a letter called on the Nigerian government and parliament to immediately transfer Sheikh Zakzaki to a well-equipped hospital to prevent any unfortunate incidents.

Sheikh Zakzaky, who is in his mid-sixties, has been imprisoned for four years and needs to undergo treatments before soon.

He lost his left eyesight in a 2015 raid by security forces that left more than 300 of his followers and three of his sons dead. His wife also sustained serious wounds.

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