IRNA � Baghdad regards Iran as its most important partner in the fight against Daesh (ISIS) terrorists, Deputy Chairman of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis said.


Iran�s assistance prevented the fall of Iraq into Daesh hands while it foiled all the plots aimed at fomenting flames of a sectarian, religious war, Al-Muhandis said Saturday in an exclusive interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

He appreciated Iran�s all-out support for Iraq in defeating Daesh.

While Iraq was on the verge of collapse in 2014, Iran�s weaponry, military advisory and war planning aids prevented Iraq's fall, he added.

It also stopped new religious seditions and sectarian wars, Al-Muhandis said.

Thanks to the presence of the Iranian military advisors and the Lebanese Hezbollah forces, we first secured Baghdad and then cleared the Samarra road of terrorists, since terrorists were trying to capture the city, he said.

If terrorists had reached Samarra and the Holy Shrines, similar to 2006, a religious sedition would have overwhelmed Iraq, he added.

Despite a strategic security agreement between the US and Iraq, Americans at that time denied providing any aid to the Iraqi government, he said.

Iran was the only country that stood by Iraq, while Baghdad was short of weapons and military hardware and the Iraqi Army had lost two thirds of its forces.

He also referred to the so-called Arab Spring which aimed at destroying Syria, saying Iran was the only country that supported the Syrian government and people and prevented collapse of the Syrian political system.

Iran, despite leading an anti-terrorist war in Syria and Iraq, was a victim of terrorism itself, he added.

The Islamic Republic of Iran confronted Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan, al-Muhandis said.