Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, a leading Bahraini cleric, met with Iraq’s top religious leader Ayatollah Ali Sistani in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf on Friday, IRNA reported.

The local Iraqi media published an image of the meeting, but failed to provide further details.

Ayatollah Isa Qassim arrived in Najaf on Thursday.

Sheikh Isa Qassim is considered an icon of democracy for defending the rights of the Bahraini people.

On Thursday afternoon, he participated in a ceremony in Najaf to commemorate the late Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council, who died on Monday after months of battling an illness.

He also met with Ammar Hakim, leader of the National Wisdom Movement of Iraq. In the meeting they discussed the latest developments in the Muslim world, the concerns of the followers of the infallible household of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and ways to resolve the problems facing the Islamic Ummah.