TEHRAN, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran will do everything to protect Muslim Shiite shrines in Iraq, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency on Wednesday.

"We announce to the superpowers, the mercenaries, the criminals and the terrorists that the great Iranian nation will do everything to protect Shiite holy shrines in the Iraqi cities of Karbala, Najaf, Kazemein and Samarra" Rouhani said in Iran's western city of Khorramabad on Wednesday.

Many Iranian volunteers have announced their readiness to go to Iraq to defend the holy shrines and to confront terrorists, he said, adding that many Iraqis are ready to sacrifice for their country.

"Terrorist groups" and their supporters will be defeated in Iraq, he said.

The Islamic republic will provide Iraq with consultations that could help Iraq's army eradicate terrorism, but Iran would never directly be involved in Iraq, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Monday.

Iran and the United States announced Tuesday that they briefly talked about the advancements of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the militant group that has taken large swathes of key Iraqi cities, on the sidelines of ongoing nuclear negotiations in Vienna.