Iran: No Iranian troops deployed to Jalawla

On Wednesday afternoon, Commander Mohammad Ali Pourdastan of the Army Ground Forces told reporters the army unveiled two army achievements and said “he manned gunship and 23mm sniper have passed the research stage and will come into operation at the end of this year.”

In regard to the ISIL terrorist activities in Iraq he asserted that “this terrorist group engaged 5 provinces in Iraq by relying on the surprise factor; they even came close to Iran’s borders but we have reinforced the ground force to be on constant alert and vigilantly monitor ISIL activities.”

The commander noted that “as of now Iran’s Army Ground Forces is fully prepared to defend the country’s borders and added when Iraqi people got involved in the fighting scene against ISIL, they managed to slow down their progress and force them back from a number of regions. Iraq’s army and people forces have been capable enough in countering ISIL and will soon defeat this terrorist group once and for all.”

The commander denied Iran’s military presence in Jalawla, Iraq, in fighting ISIL forces and mentioned “we only have training cooperation with Iraq and have not deployed any troops there. However, we will continue to provide Iraq with our experiences and military knowledge.”

In regard to the western countries’ coalition against ISIL he maintained, “This coalition is a strategic change for them since they started to feel that this terrorist group has ceased to advance their objectives; hence, the West is attempting to make their presence more profound in the regional countries by this strategy.”