Iraqi Hezbollah Chief Hails Iran’s Support for Baghdad against Daesh

“I thank the Iranian nation and Leader of the Islamic Revolution (Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei) for standing by us in Iraq and Syria,” Sheikh Akram al-Kaabi said during a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in Tehran on Saturday.

If it had not been for the Islamic Republic’s backing for Iraq, areas under the control of Daesh (also known as ISIL and ISIS) would not have been liberated, he added.

Al-Kaabi added that if Iranian-backed resistance groups were not involved in Iraq’s military campaign against terrorists, the country would face deplorable conditions.

He further described a battle to liberate the northern Iraqi city of Mosul as a “decisive battle” which will determine the direction of the Islamic resistance in Iraq.

The Iraqi army is gearing up for a major offensive in late September to purge Daesh from Mosul, the country’s second largest city. Iraqi forces have managed to wrest control of several areas in the southern parts of the city.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the head of the Iraqi Islamic movement said al-Nujaba’s forces are now present in the Syrian northwestern city of Aleppo, closely monitoring the situation there.

He further said that Jabhat Fatah al Sham (previously known as the al-Nusra Front) is enjoying the full support of Qatar, noting that Washington and Riyadh are also supporting the terror group.

“Today, more than 140 countries are backing the terrorists (operating) in Syria,” al-Kaabi stressed.

Syria has been gripped with civil war since March 2011. According to the United Nations, more than 220,000 people have been killed and one million wounded during the conflict.

The ISIL terrorist group controls a territory covering areas between Syria and Iraq.