US using ISIL for infiltration into Mideast: Iran official

A senior Iranian security official says the US has no intention to annihilate the terrorist Daesh, noting that Washington is using the Takfiri group to legitimize its long-term presence in the Middle East and in Muslim nations.

In a meeting with Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) Ammar Hakim in Tehran on Tuesday, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said scandalous revelations about the US trained and armed new terrorist groups deployed to Syria pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda showed that Washington uses terrorism as an instrument to achieve its own objectives.

Earlier this month, a group of Syria militants, including those trained by the US, calling itself Division 30 announced their refusal to fight al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, following a series of abductions by the terrorist group.

Furthermore, there have been many reports of so-called “moderate militants” backed by the US in Syria joining the ranks of al-Qaeda and Daesh terrorists.

“Daesh is a political sedition that is trying to sow discord in the name of religion and pursue the interests of the Zionist regime [Israel],” added Shamkhani.

He added that the Iraqi government and army should make the utmost use of their potential to root out this regional threat.

Shamkhani further commended the vigilance of the Iraqi government and nation in preserving the country’s territorial integrity and national unity in the face of foreign plots hatched to partition Iraq and plunder its huge resources.

“Iraq has always been a good example of unity and Shia-Sunni coexistence as well as [coexistence between] other religions,” he added.

Resistance against foreign plots

For his part, Hakim said Iraq would strongly resist foreign plots, which are all aimed at fueling differences.

He hailed the support offered by Iran and Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to Iraq in its fight against Takfiri terrorism.

Hakim stressed that Iraq will finally emerge winner against terrorist groups, noting that Baghdad will make headway more rapidly.

With the backing of Western and some regional states, Daesh started its campaign of terror in Syria in 2012.

The militants, who currently control areas across Syria as well as northern and western Iraq, have been carrying out horrific acts of violence, including public decapitations, against Iraqi and Syrian communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.