In a cabinet session on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hailed the liberation of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from the DaeshTakfiri terrorist group.
“The victory of the Iraqi people over Daesh terrorists and Mosul’s liberation are joyful news not only for the Iraqi nation but also for the Iranians and the entire region,” the president stressed.
Rouhani said the fact that Iran was the first country to rush to the help of the Iraqi people against terrorists will go down in history.
The remarks comes after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formally declared victory of the country’s forces over Daesh in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city which fell into the hands of the Takfiri terrorist group in June 2014.
Elsewhere in his remarks, The Iranian president said the powers destabilizing the region over the past 16 years through military intervention and the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq have not only failed to stand up to terrorists in Iraq but also rejoiced over new problems facing the region.
He said certain regional countries were also to blame for the problems of the region, adding that they thought they could achieve their objectives through using terrorism as an instrument.
Rouhani noted that the true fight against terror should focus on combating the ideology of terrorism.
“It takes a long time to uproot the ideology of extremism and violence,” he said.
At Baghdad’s request, Iran has been providing military advisory assistance to Iraq in its counter-terrorism campaign. Tehran says it will continue rendering assistance to Baghdad as long as the Iraqi government calls for it.
Rouhani concluded by saying that Iran has proved to follow “a wise” policy vis-à-vis the region and the world.