Iran says ready to give Iraq arms to fight terrorism

 Written by : Mohamed Abdel Fattah

Jul 01, 2014

 Iran's deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday Tehran has not received a request from Baghdad to supply it with weapons but is ready to do so if asked, he said during a visit to Moscow where he held talk with Russian officials.

"Iraq has came up with no request to get arms from us. But if it does, then, within the framework of international law and rules as well as bilateral agreements, the arms that Iraq needs to conduct an effective fight against terrorism will be provided," he said.

Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also said the Islamic Republic of Iran will not send armed forces to fight against Takfiri terrorists in Iraq but will help Baghdad if it demands military equipment, a high-rankling diplomat says.

“If Iraq ever requires our arms for an effective combat against terrorism, we will provide these arms in accordance with international law and our bilateral contracts,” he said.

President Hassan Rouhani acknowledged the possibility of US assisting Iran and for a potential alliance between Iran and the US in combating Sunni militants in Iraq

“We can think about it if we see America starts confronting the terrorist groups in Iraq or elsewhere.” Rouhani said on Saturday.

Shi'ite Muslim Iran has been alarmed by the seizure this week of several major northern Iraqi towns by Sunni Islamist insurgent forces

Rouhani has said that the country is ready to assist Iraq in its battle against extremist Sunni Islamists.“If the Iraqi government asks us for help, we may provide any assistance the Iraqi nation would like us to provide in the fight against terrorism." Rouhani said in a speech made at a news conference to mark a year since Rouhani’s victory in the 2013 presidential election

The largely Shia Iranian government has close links to the Shia Iraqi ,both are seen as infidels by the Sunni group Isis  ,whose stated aim is the establishment of a caliphate governed under a strict interpretation of Sharia law .

Tehran is open to the possibility of working with the United States to support Baghdad, the senior official said.

Relations between Iran and Washington have improved modestly since the 2013 election of President Hassan Rouhani, who promised "constructive engagement" with the world.

President Obama announced Monday that he is sending approximately 200 American troops to Iraq to reinforce security at the U.S. Embassy as Baghdad’s international airport, bringing the total U.S. deployments to Iraq this month to 775.

In a letter to Congress on Monday, President Obama wrote that additional troop deployments are “a prudent measure to protect US citizens and property.”

“This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat,” wrote the President.

The president had previously deployed about to assist Iraqi security forces and he sent .

Obama says this force is also equipped with rotary-wing aircraft and can assist with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. he added the troops will stay in Iraq until security improves so that the reinforcements are no longer needed.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) are fighting the governments on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border, and an apparent decision by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to intervene to help Maliki further tangles the already complex knot of actors in the overlapping crises.

On Sunday Sunni jihadists group known as declared a new caliphate and an Islamic state to claim dominion over Muslims across the globe .

ISIS have declared the captured territories from Iraq's Diyala province to Syria's Aleppo a new Islamic State - a ‘caliphate and declared its chief, Abu Bakr  al-Baghdadi, as "the caliph" of the new state and "leader for Muslims everywhere,"

Islamic extremists have long aspired to recreate the Islamic caliphate that ruled over the Middle East for hundreds of years.

Sources

Reuters.