) Iran sent military unit to fight in Iraq



 Written : Mohamed Abdel fattah

Jun 13, 2014

 Iran has sent about 500 Revolutionary Guard troops to fight alongside Iraqi government security forces in Diyala province, a senior security official in Baghdad told CNN.

That comes after Islamist militants have captured swathes of territory including the country's second biggest city Mosul, prompting a senior cleric in the violence-plagued country to call on Shiite Muslim followers to take up arms against the invaders.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani called Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki on Friday to pledge his Shiite government's support, and Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard force said it was prepared to join the fight.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will apply all its efforts on the international and regional levels to confront terrorism,” Rouhani told Maliki, according to the official IRNA news agency

Security and police sources said Sunni armed groups now controlled parts of the small town of Udhaim, 90km north of Baghdad, after most of the army troops left their positions and withdrew towards the nearby town of Khalis.

Meanwhile ,President Barack Obama  said Friday he is weighing a range of options for countering the violent Islamic insurgency in Iraq, but he said the United States "will not be sending U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq," but other options are being considered.

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.

Sources

latimes

Reuters.

CNN

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