Iraqi President Lauds Iran's Support for Baghdad against ISIL
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iraqi President Fuad Masum commended Iran as the first country to have provided assistance to the government in Baghdad in the battle against the Takfiri ISIL terrorists.
In an exclusive interview with the Arabic-language al-Mayadeen news network on Saturday, President Masum also said Iraq only receives consultations from Iranian military experts in the fight against ISIL, underlining that the Islamic Republic has no military presence inside Iraq.
He added that Iraq does not need foreign forces to defend itself against ISIL, calling on the international community to provide the crisis-hit Arab country with modern weaponry and equipment.
The Iraqi president also stressed the need for unity among the Iraqi people in the battle against ISIL.
He said the Iraqi army soldiers backed by volunteer fighters and Kurdish Peshmerga forces have managed to liberate large areas of land, and can expel ISIL from the areas they still have under control, Press TV reported.
Masum argued that the US-led airstrikes against purported ISIL positions in Iraq, which the Pentagon has been carrying out since August, cannot eliminate ISIL.