FM Zarif:

ISIL would have taken over region if not for Iran forces

TEHRAN (defapress) – Reacting to Rex Tillerson’s remarks on asking Iranian forces to exit Iraq, FM Zarif stressed Tehran’s role in fighting terrorism, saying ISIL would have taken over Syria and Iraq if it were not for Iran’s efforts.

News ID: 66622

Date: 23 October 2017 - 09:52

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks upon arrival in South African capital early Monday, adding "the policies of the Trump’s administration are isolated in the world. Even the closest allies to Washington have publicly taken a stand against Mr. Trump’s anti-JCPOA approaches.”

Zarif was reacting to the remarks made by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who called for new sanctions to be imposed on Iran during a press conference with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir on Sunday in Riyadh.

Tillerson had also said it was time for Iranian forces fighting ISIL in Iraq to exit the war-torn country.

In a tweet late Monday, Zarif reacted to Tillerson’s remakes by censuring US foreign policy as shameful, saying "exactly what country is it that Iraqis who rose up to defend their homes against ISIS return to? Shameful US FP, dictated by petrodollars.”

Asked to comment about Tillerson’s Middle East tour, Zarif said "regrettably, the Americans are not willing to amend their views about Iran and realize that the country is the cause of peace and stability by fighting terrorism in the region.”

"If it were not for the sacrifices of our Holy Shrine Defenders [Iranian advisers and military personnel fighting ISIL in Syria and Iraq], today Damascus, Baghdad and Erbil would have been taken over by ISIL terrorists,” he added.

"The US allies who are bending to Washington’s will and allowing their petrodollars to be squandered are the cause of instability and crisis in the region, and as days go by, more people in the US and the world come to realize that the US has been the recipient of the majority of damage caused by its own wrong approach toward the region,” Zarif said.

The Iranian top diplomat further advised American politicians to correct their wrong policies as soon as possible and stop supporting Saudi Arabia in the massacre of children and the elderly in Yemen so as to prevent further damage to the Middle East region.