Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani underlined that the U.S. airstrikes will not destroy the Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria.
The U.S. plan for aerial bombardment of the IS group is not acceptable because the groups fighting there are not conventional military units, but are positioned in houses, Larijani said, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported Aug 28.
The official accused some regional countries of helping the IS groups, saying "we state our words frankly, but some regional countries say something against the terrorists, while they help the IS secretly."
Larijani added that the IS not only would not be destroyed by the U.S. airstrikes, but will even be strengthened.
"Americans with aerial attacks seek a political gesture, or else follow other goals," he said.
The IS militants have taken several towns since they intensified their attacks in Iraq in mid-June. The group reportedly has been committing crimes in those areas, including the mass execution of civilians as well as army troops and officers.
The IS fighters have been bombarded since Aug. 8 by U.S. air strikes in northern Iraq, allowing Kurdish Peshmerga forces to claw back a limited amount of lost territory, including the Qaraj area, which they retook on Aug. 24.
Some Kurdish media have underscored the significant role of Iranian forces in fighting against the IS. The media reports say Iranian forces have a decisive presence on the battlefield of the fight.
Iran's interior minister, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said on Aug. 26 that Iran's mediation on the issue in time, and Iran's important strategies resulted in the release of some Iraqi cities from the control of the IS. He dismissed reports about the presence of Iranian military forces in Iraq, insisting that the Islamic Republic has given only advice and organizational structure to the armed forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in north of Iraq.