Iran Press/ Middle East: Iraqi President, Barham Salih expressed special gratitude to Iran as a neighboring, friendly, and allied country for its support and stance during the three-year fight against ISIS terrorist group from 2014 to 2017.
The Iraqi President was speaking in a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of victory against the ISIS terrorist group attended by Iraqi lawmakers from the 'Construction Faction' the biggest political bloc in the Iraqi parliament.
During the ceremony, Barham Salih also expressed his appreciation of Iraqi religious clergies, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and other Iraqi armed forces in relation to the victory over ISIS.
On 17 November 2018, Iraqi President Barham Salih in an official visit to Iran and meeting with President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran had said his country will not forget Iran’s support for the Iraqis in their struggle against the regime of Saddam Hussein and ISIS terrorists.
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Iraqi President Barham Saleh (L) meeting with Iran's president Hassan Rouhani (R) at the Saadabad Complex on 17 Nov
“Through its support for us, the Islamic Republic played a great role in defeating terrorists in Iraq,” Salih said in a joint press conference with President Hassan Rouhani.
“We will not forget your support for the Iraqi people during the struggle against Saddam,” he added.
Iran hosted hundreds of thousands of Iraqis - Kurds and Arabs - during Saddam Hussein’s bloody purges in northern and southern Iraq. Some current and former Iraqi officials lived in Iran during their struggle against Saddam’s dictatorship.
In early 2014 the ISIS terrorist group with the financial and logistic support of US and its regional allies like Saudi Arabia carried out a lightening offensive, catching Iraqi government forces by surprise, and forcing them to flee key cities in Western Iraq. Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, fell into the hands of ISIS terrorists in 2014.
In the early days of the ISIS assault on Mosul, Iran helped Iraq, following an official request from the government in Baghdad to fight ISIS terrorists.
On 17 November, Iraqi armed forces with advisory help from Iran succeeded in liberating the town of Rawa near the border with Syria, which was the last remaining town under ISIS’s control, and raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings.
On 10 December 2017, prime minister Haidar al-Abadi officially declared victory over ISIS Terrorist group, congratulating the Iraqi Army and allied forces for their efforts in defeating the terrorists.
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