Chief of Staff Calls for Formation of Iran-Iraq Joint Border Committees
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces highlighted the importance of unity between Iran and Iraq, stressing the need for creation of joint border committees between the two neighboring countries.
“(Bolstering) unity between the two countries, establishing stable security, creating joint border committees and negotiations” would be beneficial to regional security,” Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said on Wednesday during a meeting with Iraqi National Security Adviser Faleh al-Fayyad in Tehran.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he expressed satisfaction over Iraq’s security situation, hailing the recent gains made by Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units in the fight against Daesh (also known as ISIL and ISIS).
The top Iranian commander further hoped that the Iraqi army would defeat Daesh and liberate the city of Mosul and other terrorist-held regions in the country in the near future.
The Iraqi military and its allies are involved in a large-scale offensive to liberate the northern city of Mosul, which Daesh has proclaimed its headquarters in Iraq. Mosul fell to Daesh terrorists in summer 2014.
A 2015 offensive to retake the city came to a halt after Daesh militants overran the city of Ramadi, which is the capital of the western province of Anbar and about 110 kilometers west of Baghdad. Ramadi was liberated later in December 2015.
On June 18 this year, Iraqi forces launched another attack to retake the southern parts of Mosul, one day after they liberated Fallujah.
