Iran official:

US wants insecurity crisis to continue in Middle East

Rasa - A senior Iranian official says acts of sabotage by the United States in the campaign to liberate the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from Daesh terrorists shows Washington’s unwillingness to see the insecurity crisis in the Middle East end.

News ID: 426258

Date: 03 January 2017 - 18:50

RNA - In a meeting with Iraq’s Vice President Nouri al-Maliki in Tehran on Tuesday, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said the Islamic Republic is determined to continuously support the Iraqi government and nation in the fight against terrorism.

On October 17, joint Iraqi forces launched an operation to retake Mosul, which fell to Daesh in 2014.

The advance has, however, been slowed down due to the presence of hundreds of thousands of civilians, many of whom are being prevented from leaving the city by the terrorists.

The senior Iranian official hailed great achievements made by the Iraqi army soldiers and popular forces in their battle against terrorism.

“Terrorism is the root cause of insecurity and instability and Iraq’s successes in this field proves the fact that the only correct way to fight terrorism is to rely on people’s exemplary capability and use local capacities,” Shamkhani said.

He pointed to the alliance among Shia Muslims in Iraq and their constructive and positive interaction with other faith and political groups, saying the continuation of such an alliance requires patience, self-sacrifice and convergence.

The SNSC secretary further said the forces of Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as Hashd al-Sha'abi, play a strategic role in reinforcing security in Iraq.

He added that the Iraqi parliament agreed to approve a law to give full legal status to fighters from the PMU due to their constructive measures and the presence of all groups and faiths among them.

Iraq’s Council of Representatives on November 26, 2016 voted in support of the legislation, which recognizes Hashd al-Sha'abi as part of the national armed forces, places the volunteer fighters under the command of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and grants them the right to receive salaries and pensions just like the regular army and police.

Shamkhani also said Iran and Iraq must make use of the new capacities in political, economic, cultural and security cooperation in order to establish sustainable security and become a model for strategic mutual relations in the region.

Terror fight needs enhanced defense, security power

The Iraqi vice president, for his part, commended Iran’s full support for his county in the fight against terrorism.

The former Iraqi prime minister added that the continuation of the resistance front’s victories against terrorist groups and their regional and Western sponsors requires identifying and removing obstacles and planning to boost political, defense and security power.

Maliki arrived in Tehran on Saturday to hold talks with senior Iranian officials.

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