Iraqi Figure: Baghdad Would Have Fallen to ISIL Had Iran Not Backed Iraq
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior Iraqi cultural figure hailed Iran's military supports for his country in its fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group, saying that had it not been for Tehran's assistance, the insurgents would have taken Baghdad by now.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Abdul Abbas al-Ameri, the founder of Iraq-Iran Friendship Society and head of a cultural center for Iraqi tribes, said the Arab country's people, army troops and volunteer forces managed to withstand the ISIL militants with Iran's help.
"If it were not for the Islamic Republic of Iran and its supports for Iraq, ISIL would be roaring in Baghdad today and marching in Najaf and Karbala and even along the Saudi borders," he noted.
Iraq has been facing the growing threat of terrorism, mainly posed by the ISIL terrorist group.
The ISIL militants made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the last summer, after capturing large swaths of northern Syria.
However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the volunteer forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, have blunted the edge of the ISIL offensive.
Amid tensions in Iraq, Iran is known as the first country to help the Arab country and has always voiced support for Iraq’s prosperity and territorial integrity.
