TEHRAN - Molavi Abdul Hamid, a high-ranking Iranian Sunni cleric, said on Friday that enemies are seeking to disintegrate Muslim countries.

“The territorial integrity and independence of Muslim countries are vital and important,” he told worshippers in Zahedan, the capital of the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

The warning by the Sunni cleric comes as the Iraqi Kurdistan held an independence referendum last week, seeking secession from the mainland Iraq.