A senior Iranian diplomat says the Islamic Republic of Iran will support Iraq in its fight against terrorism.
“We will strongly support Iraq in fighting terrorism,” Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, militants from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took control of Nineveh Province, including its capital Mosul.
Iraqi forces are continuing their battle against the militants in parts of Nineveh and other provinces, having managed to push the militants back in some areas.
“I am certain that Iraqi military forces will powerfully annihilate terrorism and Takfiris,” Amir-Abdollahian added.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called on the international community to back the Iraqi government in its fight against Takfiri militants.
"Terrorism must not be allowed to succeed in undoing the path toward democracy in Iraq," he said.
Amir-Abdollahian further referred to the seizure of the Turkish consulate in Mosul by ISIL militants, saying, “We strongly condemn the abduction of diplomats and staff of the Turkish Consulate in Mosul.”
On June 11, ISIL militants kidnapped Turkish Consul General in Mosul Ozturk Yilmaz and 24 other staff members working at the consulate.
Takfiri groups, including the ISIL, are reportedly coming to Iraq from neighboring Syria and Saudi Arabia to undermine security in the country.
The Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says Saudi Arabia and Qatar are behind the security crisis and growing terrorism in his country, denouncing the Al Saud regime as a major supporter of global terrorism.
IA/NN/HMV