Hajj Mahmoud said in an interview with Tasnim news agency that "Iran, Soleimani and his colleagues have a great influence in the war against IS and they played a special role in defeating IS. I think that if it wasn’t for Iran and Suleimani, Baghdad and Damascus would have been subject to IS occupation."
"There was confidence that these two capitals were in the grip of IS, but thanks to Iran, Russia came to the region, Hezbollah came to Syria and they defended this country. They also defended Iraq, where IS arrived in Abu Ghraib, near Karbala and elsewhere."
He added by saying that "Soleimani played a major role in one front in order to confront IS. He was a revolutionary and was able to make Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Afghanistan as one front under his leadership. These countries were in contact with Iran through Soleimani, "noting that Soleimani" was moving Hezbollah forces from Lebanon to Baghdad and Syria. He formed one axis in Syria, Yemen, and other regions that he was leading himself.
The Kurdish leader went on saying , "When IS first arrived in Mosul, a delegation from Iran came to Kurdistan Region and met all the movements and groups in the region's government. They warned of the danger of IS, but some movements believed that IS mission was to go to Baghdad and would not come to Kurdistan. The groups didn’t show great interest in the clarifications of this delegation, but when IS attacked and reached Makhmur, Koir, Kirkuk and other regions, the first country –to come even before the United States and Europe arrived at Erbil Airport – was Iran. Soleimani came with 70 military experts and three shipments of ammunition to counter IS, and cooperated with Peshmerga forces. "
Reporter's code: 50101