“It is only possible for Iraq to weather the current crisis through national unity,” said Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a meeting with Yan Kubish, the UN special envoy for Iraq, in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Saturday.
Amir-Abdollahian said the termination of the crisis in Iraq is feasible through reliance on Iraq’s national capacities and the assistance from the United Nations (UN) and regional countries.
The Iranian official underscored the fatwas (religious decrees) by Iraqi religious figures as an instrumental factor in the formation of popular mobilization units to battle Takfiri terrorists, saying that all Iraqi groups, including Shia, Sunni, and Kurds, should defend the territorial sovereignty of Iraq and support the government in the fight.
Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and other religious figures have encouraged volunteers to join the army and help the government. Currently, the Iraqi army, backed by volunteer forces, is engaged in operations against the Takfiri ISIL terrorists across the country.
The Iranian official further described as suspicious the fall of the city of Ramadi in the restive province of Anbar to ISIL despite the presence of the US-led coalition, which purports to be fighting terrorists in Iraq.
Since August 2014, the US and some of its allies have been conducting airstrikes against purported ISIL positions in Iraq.
Kubish, the UN envoy for Iraq, for his part, appreciated the efforts by the Islamic Republic of Iran in the fight against terrorism, describing as highly significant Iran’s measures to build up security and stability as well as to maintain the territorial sovereignty of the Middle Eastern countries of Iraq and Syria.
Referring to the social make-up of Iraq, Kubish confirmed the role of Iraqi religious leaders in the fight against terrorism.
