Iraq Appreciates Iran’s Support for Anti-ISIL Campaign

“Iran was the first one to help and give a hand to Iraq,” al-Ghabban said in an interview with Russia Today TV on Monday.

He noted that when the threat (of ISIL) was very close to Erbil in the Iraqi Kurdistan, “the first supplies of ammunition that reached Kurds were from Iran, not from other people”.

“As I said, ISIL is a threat to everybody, of course, it’s a threat to Iran. We have more than 1200 km of common borders with Iran, Iran feels the threat is very close more than any other country, so they share this threat and so they helped us,” he added.

Earlier this month, senior Iranian and Iraqi defense officials struck an agreement on widening defense and security cooperation between the two states and intensify joint actions against ISIL and other Takfiri terrorists.

The agreement was made during the second round of talks between visiting Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan and his Iraqi counterpart Brigadier General Khaled al-Obeidi in Baghdad.

At the meeting, the two top defense officials discussed the latest conditions in Iraq’s war on ISIL, and studied possible ways to implement their agreements on widening defense and security cooperation and intensified campaign against ISIL.

In January, al-Ghabban lauded the Iranian government and nation for their supports for his country, and said the Iraqi government and people will never forget Iran’s assistance to them.

“The Iraqi government and nation will never forget Iran’s financial and spiritual supports,” Ghabban said in a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in Tehran.

He reiterated that Iran’s cooperation in Iraq’s ongoing fight against the Takfiri terrorists was crucial for his country.