Iran-Iraq Close Ties A Thorn in Eyes of US, Israel: Commander

Speaking at a meeting with Iraqi Air Defense Commander Lieutenant General Jabar Obeid Kadhim Jabbar on Friday, Brigadier General Hajizadeh pointed to Iran’s advisory support for Iraqi forces in the fight against the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group and said that from the early days of Iraq’s campaign against Daesh and other Takfiri terrorist groups, the IRGC Aerospace Force sided with the people, government, and armed forces of the Arab country at the request of the Baghdad government.

The Iranian and Iraqi nations are enjoying amicable relations, and this has been “a thorn in the eyes” of the US, the Zionist regime of Israel and the reactionary Arab countries in the region, the commander added.

The enemies are desperately trying to create tensions and discord between the two great nations through launching a propaganda campaign and using psychological operations, Brigadier General Hajizadeh went on to say.

General Kadhim Jabbar, for his part, expressed his gratitude to the Islamic Republic of Iran for its continued support for the Arab country in its campaign against terrorism and called for closer defense cooperation between the two sides.

Daesh militants made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the summer of 2014, after capturing large swaths of northern Syria.

However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the volunteer forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for the fight against the militants, led to the collapse of Daesh in Iraq.

Iran is known as the first country to help the Arab country and has always voiced support for Iraq’s territorial integrity and prosperity.