Baku, Azerbaijan, June 17
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, General Hassan Firouzabadi has accused Israel of establishing The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group.
"The ISIL is an Israeli plan to remove the revolutionary forces far from its borders, Firouzabadi said, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported on June 17.
"The Israelis have themselves confirmed that the goal behind the ISIL operations is safeguarding Israel," the commander noted.
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which developed into a formidable force inside Syria, has extended its reach in Iraq since June 10, gaining near-complete control of the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit and seizing Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.
The group seized large swathes of western Iraq's Anbar Province in January, including much of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi, flashpoints of the U.S.-led war in 2003.
Firouzabadi also claimed that the United States created terrorist groups in Iraq when Hillary Clinton was the U.S. Secretary of State.
He went on to note that the U.S. administration is not satisfied with the results of the parliamentary elections in Iraq and tries to disrupt it by military intervention in the country.
The Iranian top commander also underlined that "the U.S. is a close ally of terrorists' regional supporters."