The Iranian Armed Forces are keeping a close watch on the country’s border areas and take whatever measure necessary to secure the frontiers, Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan underscored.
As regards the growing concerns about presence of the ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) terrorist group in Syria and Iraq, the minister ensured that those Takfiri militants do not pose the merest threat to Iran.
“The ISIL is not regarded as a threat to our country and the Iraqi people themselves will wipe out this group,” he stressed.
The ISIL is a militant group in Iraq and Syria believed to be supported 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.