Rafsanjani: ISIL Threatening Islam’s Image
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Head of Iran’s Expediency Council (EC) on Tuesday termed the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as a typical extremist group that commits its crimes in the name of Islam.
Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani made the remarks during a meeting with the officials at Iran’s Interior Ministry in Tehran.
“The acts of terror by the ISIL which are being committed in the name of Islam pose serious threats to the true image of the Muslim world,” Rafsanjani underscored.
Earlier, the head of EC had described the movements of the ISIL as an old and pre-planned sedition and conspiracy to destabilize the whole region, adding that behind-the-scene support for the terrorists by certain regional and ultra-regional states had complicated the situation in Iraq.
The ISIL is a militant group in Iraq and Syria backed by the West and some regional Arab countries. The terrorist group claims as an independent state the territory of Iraq and Syria, with implied future claims intended over more of the Levant, including Lebanon, occupied Palestine, Jordan, Cyprus, and Southern Turkey.
In addition to attacks on government and military targets, the group has claimed responsibility for attacks that have killed thousands of Iraqi civilians.
In early June, following its large-scale offensives in Iraq, ISIL seized control of most parts of Mosul, the second most populous city in Iraq and its surrounding Nineveh province.
The terrorists’ attacks have reportedly forced more than half a million people in and around Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province, to flee their homes.
Following Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s religious decree (Fatwa) which called on Iraqis to take up arms against terrorists, nearly 1.5 million Iraqis have volunteered to join battles against the al-Qaeda-linked militants. The volunteers consist of people from all walks of life including retired officers.
