Support for legitimate governments Iran’s definitive policy: Leader aide

A senior Iranian official says supporting legitimate regional governments and oppressed people including the Syrians and Iraqis constitutes an absolute policy of the Islamic Republic. 

Iran’s support for regional countries and nations, either within an advisory or political framework, is provided at the request of their governments and heralds future victories as wells as the defeat of terrorists and their supporters in the region, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, told reporters on Friday.

Velayati said the 9th session of the Supreme Council of the World Assembly of Islamic Awakening, which is slated to be held in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Saturday and Sunday, shows “the firm determination to fight terrorism and support the oppressed people in the region.”

He pointed to the ongoing military operations near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the last Daesh stronghold in the country, to push Daesh Takfiri terrorists out of the city, and once again reiterated that Iran has no direct military participation in the offensive.

“During some five years of the fight against extremist and Takfiri groups and criminal terrorists and their supporters, the Islamic Republic of Iran has always stood by the regional nations,” the Leader’s aide said.

He added that the simultaneous military operations near Mosul and the presence of intellectuals of the Muslim world in Baghdad indicates “political support” for a concerted campaign based on highlighting Muslims’ commonalities and avoiding any discord.

“This is a clear message to Takfiri and extremist groups and their supporters and some reactionary countries in the region,” Velayati, who is also the secretary general of the World Assembly of Islamic Awakening, pointed out.

Nearly 30,000 army soldiers, fighters from pro-government Popular Mobilization Units and Kurdish Peshmerga forces are involved in a massive and multi-pronged operation to retake the city of Mosul from Daesh militants.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Thursday the battle to free Mosul from Daesh’s control has been going faster than planned.

“The fighting forces are currently pushing forward toward the city more quickly than we thought and more quickly than we had established in our plan for this campaign,” he said.