Insight - From eastern flank, Iran-backed force advances on Tikrit

Shi'ite fighters fire a rocket during clashes with Islamic State militants in Salahuddin province March 3, 2015. REUTERS/Ahmed Al-Hussaini

UDHAIM DAM, Iraq (Reuters) - Wearing military fatigues and a white turban, the Shi'ite cleric gave an eve-of-battle address to Iran-backed fighters preparing to attack Islamic State militants in Tikrit, praising them for defending their faith and urging them to fight honourably.

Seated in front of him in rows, crossed-legged in the grass, were dozens of armed men from Iraq's largest Shi'ite militia, the Badr Organisation, the main element of a force now advancing on Tikrit's eastern flank against the Sunni Muslim Islamic State militants who now dominate most of northern Iraq.