Iran Declares 'Victory' over IS

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday declared "victory" over the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria as the jihadists cling to just a few remaining scraps of territory.

Iran is one of the main international backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has sent military advisers and thousands of "volunteers" to fight IS on the ground in Syria and Iraq.

In a televised speech Rouhani thanked "all the fighters of Islam," supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the armed forces of Iraq and Syria for "the end of this group that brought nothing but evil, destruction, murder and savagery."

He congratulated Iran's Revolutionary Guards and its foreign arm the Quds Force for a "great victory" but insisted that the "main work was accomplished by the people and armies of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon."

"We helped them in accordance with our religious and Islamic duties," he said.

Iranian media on Sunday and Monday showed footage of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in the Syrian border town of Albu Kamal, reporting he personally directed operations that recaptured the jihadists' final urban bastion over the weekend.

In a message released by the Revolutionary Guards, Soleimani congratulated supreme leader Khamenei on this "decisive victory" over IS.

"I announce the end of this group," the statement said.

He also hailed the role of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition -- dominated by groups backed by Tehran -- and the "decisive" role of Lebanon's Iranian-allied Hizbullah movement in the fighting in Syria.  

IS jihadists are currently fighting for survival in just a few pockets of remaining territory in Iraq and Syria, after losing the vast bulk of territory they seized in a lightning offensive in 2014. 

Neither the Syrian nor Iraqi governments have so far declared definitive victory over the group.

Comments 5
Thumb thepatriot over 6 years

Yeah...good riddance...one Evil down...One to go...

Thumb commirade.vlad over 6 years

Tovarich towel head is funny. You should have seen him and tovarich General Qassem Solemio I think his name was, you know the sinister pasdarani battlefield selfie guy who almost lost Iraq and Syria, back when they came to Moscow groveling like wet prostitutka. They came begging that we come and save them and President Assad from annihilation by a few ill-equiped jihadists. After I picked them up off the floor and waited until the sobbing stopped, I told them we will under conditions that they cannot refuse.
#1: Israel's safety is paramount and the IDF will be given carte blanche to strike anything they deem dangerous.
#2: The future of Syrian will be decided by the Yanks and ourselves no one else.
#3: The Yanks are helping the Iraqis now so we cannot intervene there.
They agreed, the rest is history.

Thumb Elemental over 6 years

The Irany, and no, that's not a typo. The evil they themselves created with Obama and ASSad were used by them to play the victims lol. No point in acting like heroes when they were the ones directly responsible for ISIS' inception.

Thumb Elemental over 6 years

Not Saudi or Israeli, sorry fake account #196. Why are you always playing the victim while openly contributing to the chaos in the region? I answered, now it's your turn Movaten.

Thumb shab over 6 years

How can they declare a victory when they only have advisers in Syria?