ISIL Terrorists Propped Up by US, Iranian Cleric Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A top Iranian cleric lashed out at Washington for providing impetus for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists, accusing the White House of bringing into being such a group to compensate for the failure of its plots in Syria.
“The loss of US bases in Syria led it (Washington) to organize the ISIL group in order to bring the Islamic countries to their knees,” Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami, member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, said in the country’s southern city of Rafsanjan on Friday evening.
He contended that the US takes a hand in almost every criminal act and bloodshed in the Muslim and non-Muslim nations, and added, “Creating and sponsoring the ISIL group is another plot (hatched) by the enemies of Islam.”
In early June, following its large-scale offensives in Iraq, ISIL seized control of most parts of Mosul, the second most populous city in Iraq, its surrounding Nineveh province. ISIL militants have been in control of Fallujah city since December.
The terrorists’ attacks have reportedly forced more than half a million people in and around Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province, to flee their homes. The Takfiri (extremist) militants have vowed to march toward the capital, Baghdad.
Meantime, nearly 1.5 million Iraqis have volunteered to join battles against the al-Qaeda-linked militants shortly after senior religious and political leaders called on the nation to take up arms and defend their country against militants. The volunteers consist of people from all walks of life including retired officers.
