Baku, Azerbaijan, June 10
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mostafa Izadi has rejected sending missile systems to Iraq.
"Fortunately the region's nations used the Iran 's 1979 Islamic Revolution experience which emphasizes self-sufficiency," the commander said.
Izadi made the remarks while responding to a question about the footage shared on social media showing an Iranian Zelzal-2 missile system in Iraq 's al-Anbar province.
The Iranian commander further said that for the time being the Lebanese Hezbollah group as well as Yemeni Shiite militias are relying on their own missiles, Iran 's ISNA news agency reported June 10.
The Iraqi peoples' movement also is now self-sufficient, he stressed.
Some western and Iraqi media have underscored the significant role of Iranian forces in fighting against the IS (Islamic State) group which made advances in northern and western Iraq since summer 2014, after capturing swaths of northern Syria. The media reports say Iranian forces have a decisive presence on the battlefield of the fight.
The IS group has killed several high-ranking staff of Iran 's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in Iraq during the conflicts in recent months.
Meanwhile Iranian officials said the Islamic Republic gives only advice to Iraqi forces. However some military and political officials in Iran do not hide the Islamic Republic's intent to spread its influence over the region.
Last December Deputy Commander of the IRGC, Hussein Salami said the balance of power in the region is changed in Iran's favor.
He said the Iraqi peoples' militias are connected to Iran 's Islamic Revolution, adding Iraqi Shiite militias are tens times more than the Lebanese Hezbollah group.
In similar statements Iran 's former foreign minister, Ali Akbar Velayati said mid-December that the Islamic Republic's current influence spreads from Yemen to Lebanon.
Edited by CN
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