Iraqi MP Rejects Reports on Iran’s Military Presence in Iraq

Al-Ameri, who is also a member of the Iraqi parliament, told Al-Alam TV news channel on Sunday that Iran’s assistance to the Arab country is confined to arms supply and advisory help.

“Iranians martyred in Iraq were advisors, not fighters,” he added.

Iranian weapons are being used in Iraq, and “the defense and interior ministries (of Iraq) directly purchase weapons from Iran,” the Iraqi party leader stressed.

He went on to say that Tehran does not supply weapons to ordinary people, and the arms are sent through “official and legal channels”.

He appreciated Iran’s support for Baghdad’s fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group, and underscored that all Iraqi officials admit that Baghdad could not have survived without Tehran’s help.

Elsewhere in his remarks, al-Ameri totally rejected the reports on Iranian jet fighters flying over the Arab country, and described them (the reports) as lies spread by Americans.

“We do not need Iranian aircrafts, otherwise we could declare it,” the Iraqi official added.

Tehran has already made it clear that its assistance to Iraq is confined to consultation and advisory help.

Iranian officials say Iraq is capable of defending itself and there is no need for Iran to send any combat troops to the Arab country.

The ISIL militants made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the summer, after capturing large swaths of northern Syria.

However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the popular forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, have blunted the edge of the ISIL offensive.

The Takfiri terrorists have been committing heinous crimes in the areas they have taken, including the mass execution of civilians as well as Iraqi army troops and officers.