US Seeks to Expand Military Presence in Middle East

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the US seeks to expand its military presence in the Middle East region by declaring war on the Takfiri ISIL terrorists.

He was hospitalized last week at one of Tehran’s public hospitals and underwent a prostate surgery.

The Leader described as “absurd, hollow and biased” remarks made by US officials regarding the formation of a so-called international coalition to battle the ISIL terrorist group.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that there is ample evidence of US officials’ contradictory allegations with regards to inviting Iran to the international conference currently underway in France, aimed at countering the rising threat of ISIL.

“During the difficult days that ISIL attacked Iraq, the US ambassador to Iraq submitted a request to our ambassador to Iraq calling for a meeting to be held between Iran and Iraq for negotiation and coordination on [the issue of] ISIL,” the Leader said.

Ayatollah Khamenei added that although some official in Iran were not against such a meeting, “I opposed [the US request] and told them we will not cooperate with the Americans on this issue because their intent and hands are not clean and how it is possible for us to cooperate with the Americans under such conditions?”

The Leader further noted that although the US Secretary of State John Kerry announced a few days ago that the US will not invite Iran to be part of the coalition fighting ISIL, “the same US secretary of state had personally asked Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Zarif” for cooperation against ISIL, but “Dr. Zarif had rejected his offer.”

“Now they are falsely claiming that ‘we will not let Iran be part of the anti-ISIL coalition’, while Iran had voiced its opposition to being a party to that coalition from the very beginning,” Ayatollah Khamenei stated.

The Leader further hailed the efforts made by the Iraqi nation and army in battling the ISIL Takfiri terrorists, noting that this was Iraqi army and nation, and not the Americans, who crushed the ISIL in Iraq.

The Paris meeting is being held as the US is forming a so-called international coalition to battle the Takfiri ISIL militants.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called the US-led coalition against the ISIL terrorists “ridiculous”.

Rouhani said the coalition members include those who provided the ISIL with weapons and training.

President Rouhani reiterated that Iran will not allow terrorists to occupy the Iraqi capital Baghdad or the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, calling it a “red line” for the Islamic Republic.

"We will not allow Baghdad… or the religious sites such as Karbala or Najaf to be occupied by the terrorists," he said.

Rouhani also said Iran will provide Iraq with any support Baghdad asks for to fight the terror group.

The Iranian president went on to say that any airstrikes against the Takfiris must be conducted with permission from the government and people of that country.

Rouhani also slammed the ISIL for atrocities it commits in Iraq and Syria, saying, “The killing and beheading of innocent people is in fact a matter of shame for them and it's a matter of concern and sorrow for all the human and all the mankind."

The ISIL terrorists in Iraq and Syria are an outcome of foreign invasion in the Middle East, says Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

He said the states that took part in a Paris conference on the US-led coalition against the ISIL earlier this week, had supported the Takfiris in the past.

“We do not support foreign military involvement in the region,” Zarif said, adding, "As a principle, we don’t believe that injection of foreign forces – either air or ground – solves our problem.”

The Iranian foreign minister noted that Iran was the first country to take measures to help Iraq in the face of the Takfiri threat.

He called for a Syrian-led solution to the crisis in Iraq’s neighboring country.

Iran has once again rapped the double standards vis-à-vis the campaign against terrorism, saying there are serious questions about the legitimacy of a US-led coalition to battle the Takfiri ISIL militants.

“The anti-ISIL coalition has been formed outside the United Nations mechanisms,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said.

“The pronounced goals of this coalition in the fight against terrorism are inconsistent with certain past and present deeds of its main architects and some of its members,” Afkham added.

She touched on the “political hypocrisy” of certain countries which have become the so-called standard-bearers of the fight against the ISIL terrorists, emphasizing that combating terrorism requires more political will and avoidance of double standard policies than sprawling coalitions and media maneuvering.

The Iranian spokesperson said some of the leading members of the coalition had a long track record for “instrumental use of terrorism and applying double standards toward this phenomenon.”

She reiterated Iran’s transparent position on the importance of a real fight against terrorism.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always acted responsibly in this regard and stresses the necessity of [adopting] responsible and honest measures by all countries in helping the Iraqi government and nation in the process of fighting terrorism and avoiding interventionist political and military measures to interfere in the internal affairs of countries under the pretext of countering terrorism,” Afkham said.

*Photo Credit: Press TV, Mehr News Agency, Tehran Times