LATEST: Supreme Leader on Iraq “Beware of Plots to Stir Sectarian Wars”

Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi (pictured) assured reporters on Friday that Iran is not interfering in Iraq’s political and military crisis.

“We have not interfered and will not interfere in Iraq,” Alavi said.

However, he said that Tehran cannot remain indifferent to the insurgent challenge to Baghdad: “We will give serious political and spiritual support to the Iraqi nation’s move to safeguard its dignity and independence.”

The Minister claimed that, despite the insurgent capture of cities such as Mosul and Tikrit, the people of Iraq are today more united and have more awareness, “The enemies of the Iraqi nation cannot destroy the unity of the Iraqi government and push Iraq toward disintegration with this turmoil.”

Iranian officials have denied reports that they have despatched units of the elite Qods Force, including its head Qassem Soleimani, and Basij militia to assist Baghdad.


Supreme Leader on Iraq: “Beware of Plots to Stir Sectarian Wars”

Addressing family members of martyrs in Tehran, the Supreme Leader has urged all Muslims to be vigilant against plots.

Referring to the crisis in Iraq, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The enemies in the region are investing in civil wars and they are hoping for a Shiite-Sunni war in a bid to free themselves from their concerns about the Islamic awakening.”

Khamenei repeated Tehran’s line that the insurgency in Iraq is not a sectarian conflict, but the effort of “a cast of morons and Saddam Hussein leftovers”:

What is happening now is not a Shiite-Sunni war. It is a war of terrorism with the opponents of terrorism, a war of the lovers of the West with the supporters of the independence of nations.

It is the war of humanity with savagery and barbarism.

Linking the line on Iraq with Iran’s defense of the Assad regime in Syria, the Supreme Leader pointed said enemies of Islam would try to repeat Iraq’s incidents: “The enemy will do everything to ruin the independence and dignity of Muslims.”

But Ayatollah Khamenei, citing the “brave Iranian nation”, said, “The hegemonic powers will be certainly defeated in their confrontation with the Islamic awakening in the end.”

Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Leaves Open Idea of Cooperation with Iran

The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, has left open the idea of cooperation with Iran while remaining cautious.

Dempsey told US National Public Radio:

One of the things we need to find out is whether Iran is embedded in and advising and supporting the Iraqi security forces. It is really about understanding facts on the ground before we make a decision on how to address them.”

We will look at Iran with a cold eye on where and when we may need to operate in the same space and toward what is potentially the same goal of countering (the insurgency).

(Cross-posted from Iraq Daily)

Iran Adds UN to List of Villains in Iraq Crisis

The Tehran Friday Prayer added the United Nations to the list of villains in the Iraqi crisis.

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said, “Two weeks after so many savageries in Iraq, the UN Security Council refuses to react and it has not even called any emergency session. Either they are scared of the United States or they are in cahoots with them (insurgents). They are lying about combating terrorism.”

Leading Iranian officials have accused foreign powers, including the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, of creating the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham, a leading force in the insurgency.

Khatami added to the claim on Friday, saying ISIS is run by a Jordan-based committee comprised of the US, Israel, and “reactionary regimes in the region”.