Iranian VP Warns of “Big Plots” in Iraq
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri urged the Iraqi nation to be vigilant about the enemy’s plots to disintegrate the Arab country.
In a Sunday meeting with the visiting former Iraqi Premier Nouri al-Maliki in Tehran, Jahangiri referred to “big plots” being hatched in the Arab country, saying that national solidarity and unity is a must for repelling enemy’s conspiracies.
The Iranian official also referred to “worrying” remarks by certain Western officials about dividing Iraq, and urged all Iraqi authorities and groups to hold serious stance on the divisive plot.
Maliki, for his part, noted that some Western countries are after disintegrating Iraq, adding, “They want the problems of Iraq to remain in place and prefer dividing the country instead of fighting against the ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) group.”
The remarks came in reaction to the US Army’s outgoing Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno who claimed Wednesday that reconciliation between Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq is becoming harder and that partitioning the country "might be the only solution."
Elsewhere in the Sunday meeting, Jahangiri reaffirmed Tehran’s supports for the Arab country, saying, “Islamic Republic of Iran will always support the Iraqi nation and government and this is what highlighted by all Iranian authorities, especially the Supreme Leader and the president.”
In this period of time, the Iraqi nation and government are going through a difficult time, Jahangiri said, adding that the country’s politicians have a historic role in this era and should protect Iraq’s sovereignty.
“I am sure that the Iraqi nation and government will overcome the ongoing problems and successfully pass this era of hardship,” he stressed.
Since June 10, 2014, Iraq has witnessed a fresh wave of violence after militants from the ISIL terrorist group took control of large swathes of the war-stricken country.
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.
