TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that Iran would do whatever it takes to protect revered Shiite shrines in Iraq against Sunni militants fighting the Baghdad government.

"Dear Karbala, Dear Najaf, Dear Kadhimiyah and Dear Samarra, we warn the great powers and their lackeys and the terrorists, the great Iranian people will do everything to protect them," he said of the shrines in a speech in Khoram-abad, near the Iraq border.