Victory over Daesh, defeat of divisive plots: Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the victory over the Daesh terrorist group in Iraq and Syria is tantamount to the defeat of plots to sow division and wage a civil war in the Middle East.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in reply to an earlier letter of Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), who congratulated the Leader on the collapse of the Daesh terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.

“By disintegrating this cancerous and deadly tumor, you not only provided great service to regional countries and the Muslim world, but also all nations and the humanity,” the Leader stated.

Ayatollah Khamenei hailed great efforts by the IRGC forces to eradicate the Daesh terrorist group in Syria and Iraq.

The Leader said the victory over Daesh Takfiris was a heavy blow to treacherous plots aimed at inciting a civil war in the region, destroying the anti-Israeli resistance front and undermining independent countries.

It also dealt a blow to the current and former US governments and their vassal regimes in the region who created the terrorist group and provided it with full support to expand their dominance in the Middle East and help the occupying Zionist regime dominate the region, Ayatollah Khamenei added.

However, the Leader warned that the enemy’s deceit should not be overlooked and said those who made huge investment to create the Daesh terrorist group would try to re-hatch their evil plots in another part of the region or in other forms.

Ayatollah Khamenei stressed the importance of remaining vigilant and motivated, maintaining unity, removing any dangerous remnants of the terrorist group, conducting cultural activities and staying fully prepared.

In his congratulatory message to the Leader on Tuesday, General Soleimani hailed the “great victory” over Daesh which he said materialized thanks to the prudent leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei and the sacrifices of all resistance fighters in Iraq and Syria.

Soleimani praised the steadfastness of the Iraqi and Syrian nations, governments, armies and popular forces throughout the counter-terrorism battles, paying special homage to the endeavors and struggles of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units, better known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, in the offensive to annihilate Daesh.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a gathering in the capital Tehran on November 21, 2017. (Photo by President.ir)

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has lauded the defeat of the Daesh terror group in Iraq and Syria, thanking all the nations and forces who pooled their resources to crush the remnants of the Takfiri outfit in the two neighboring countries.

Speaking at a gathering in Tehran on Tuesday, Rouhani congratulated Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and expressed his gratitude to the armed forces and peoples of Iran, Iraq, Syria as well as Lebanon for their endeavors to set the stage for the ultimate victory over Daesh.

The extremist groups, Rouhani added, “have brought nothing but misery, destruction, massacre and barbarism” to the region.

Backed by popular groups and Iranian military advisors, armed forces in Iraq and Syria have managed to flush Daesh militants out of their last strongholds in both countries, declaring full victory over the notorious terror group.

The Iran chief executive lashed out at “global powers and certain reactionary states in the region” for funding and arming the Takfiri terrorist group.

“We never imagined that the criminals, supported by the West, Americans and the evil Zionist regime, would commit such crimes in the 21st century,” said the Iranian president.

Commenting on the agenda of the upcoming tripartite summit meeting on the Syria crisis in Russia’s Sochi, Rouhani said he would hold talks with his Russian and Turkish counterparts over the future of Syria and the region in the post-Daesh era.

Arab League ‘a worn-out body’

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani slammed the Arab League’s double standards in addressing regional issues, particularly its silence on the Saudi crimes during its brutal war against Yemen.

On Sunday, the Arab League foreign ministers held an extraordinary general meeting in the Egyptian capital at the request of Saudi Arabia. At the end of the meeting, the participants issued a statement accusing Iran of interfering in the internal affairs of the countries in the region and pursuing aggressive policies against Arab states.

The Iranian president also called the pan-Arab bloc “old, worn-out, exhausted and ineffective,” saying the body convened in Cairo to express regret over a missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi fighters in response to Saudi-led massive campaign of airstrikes.

He lashed out at the Arab leaders for their failure to take action when Takfiri terrorists were committing crimes in Iraq and Syria.

The president also slammed the organization for not standing behind Lebanon when the country was fighting terrorist groups in the town of Arsal on the Syrian border.

Rouhani also accused the bloc of turning a blind eye to the ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestinians.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi on Monday dismissed the resolution as “worthless” and urged Saudi Arabia to “immediately end its savage aggression” against the Yemeni Arab people so that civilians, particularly women and children, would no longer be affected by the “flames of their spite.”