Baku, Azerbaijan, June 15
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Following the increasing tension in Iraq, a senior Iranian commander has announced that the Iran's armed forces are completely prepared to take military actions against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), if the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei orders.
Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Ground Force Brigadier General Kioumars Heidari went on to note that the army is carefully monitoring all developments in Iraq, Iran's ISNA news agency reported on June 15.
The army has intensified its presence along the country's borders with Iraq, the commander underlined.
"We have increased security measures at the country's western borders to respond decisively to any possible threat in time," Heidari said, adding that "although ISIL does not pose any threat to our borders yet."
Heidari also accused the US and Israel of being involved in the recent crisis in Iraq.
On June 10, the ISIL militants captured the administrative center of the Mosul of the northern Iraqi Province of Ninawa, a number of small settlements, as well as part of the Salah al Din Province, including its center - the city of Tikrit.
Earlier some western media outlets reported that at least three battalions from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were deployed to support the fight against the ISIL. Iran later dismissed the reports saying that has no intention of sending troops to Iraq.
On June 14, Iran's president Hassan Rouhani said that the country is ready to assist Iraq in the fight against "terrorists" within international law if Iraq wants it.