Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif voiced Tehran's concerns over ongoing violence in Iraq, and called on the Iraqi government and nation to be aware of the divisive plots hatched by the enemies to wreak havoc on the Muslim country

In a meeting with Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi in Baghdad on Tuesday, the Iranian minister said terrorism is a threat to the entire Middle-East.

He added that the Iraqi parliament plays a leading role in strengthening unity in the country and urged Iraqi officials to remain vigilant in the fight against terrorism and extremism and make efforts to eradicate these anti-human phenomena.

The top Iranian diplomat emphasized that the Iraqi officials’ vigilance and their anti-terrorism bids would thwart plots to damage national unity in the country.

In relevant remarks in a joint meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari on Tuesday, Zarif voiced Iran’s full support for the Iraqi government’s campaign against terrorism.

“Iraq is a victim of radicalism and terrorism and we will be beside the Iraqi nation for combat against terrorism,” the Iranian minister underlined.

Zarif expressed the hope that the fight against terrorism in the region would continue through unity of the Iraqi nation.

Earlier this month, a senior commander of the Iranian Armed Forces said Tehran is ready to provide Iraq with logistical backup to help the Muslim neighboring nation in its war on terrorism.

Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for Logistics and Industrial Research General Mohammad Hejazi pointed to some reports by some Iraqi newspapers that Iraq has asked for Iran’s help to confront the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, and said, “I am not informed of any such demand, but if Iraq asks for consultation or equipment aid, we will provide it.”

Tensions have been rising over the past few weeks in Anbar, a province that makes up a third of Iraq's territory along the Euphrates River.

The army launched a major operation in Anbar to flush out Al-Qaeda militants after an attack killed at least 18 soldiers, including an army commander on December 21.

Clashes broke out Monday in the Ramadi area, West of Baghdad, as security forces dismantled a protest camp where demonstrators had gathered for more than a year.

Ten militants died in the fighting, which also spread to the nearby city of Fallujah.

Protests broke out in the area in December 2012 after the arrest of the guards of then-finance minister, Rafa al-Essawi, on terrorism charges.

The Iraqi premier had described the protest site as “a headquarters for the leadership of Al-Qaeda,” and urged the protesters to leave the camps.

Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Mohammed al-Askari told state television the decision to remove the camp came after tribal leaders and local government and defense ministry officials reached a deal.

As tensions are high in Iraq, Al-Qaeda and its branches, including the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as the ISIS) which is notorious for its daily massacre, beheading and mutilation of civilians, militaries and members of rival rebel groups in Syria, have staged an all-out war on Baghdad to come in control in al-Anbar to separate it from the mainland and declare the Iraqi province as a new world country under Al-Qaeda Caliphate.

 

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