IRGC Commander: Iran has become a scourge for ISIS in Iraq

The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stated that the group known as the Islamic State (formerly ISIS) has been defeated in Iraq due to years of planning, and that Iran has become a scourge for ISIS in Iraq. According to Fars News Agency, Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Saturday, February 25: 'When ISIS emerged in Iraq, no country helped to eliminate it, but Iran rushed to assist the Iraqi people in destroying ISIS to the extent that the world, including Obama, was astonished that ISIS, with its years of planning, has been defeated in Iraq, and Iran has become a scourge for ISIS in Iraq.' Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC, stated on Thursday, February 23, in one of his rare public comments that ISIS and other groups he referred to as 'terrorist' are 'approaching the end of their existence' in Iraq and Syria. These remarks come as the U.S. Department of Defense announced on January 24 that since the beginning of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition and ground attacks by Iraqi military forces, ISIS has only lost one percent of the territory it occupied in the past five months. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense reported on Friday that ISIS forces had also taken control of the city of Al-Baghdadi in Anbar province, Iraq. 'We are in the process of liberating lands that have been under the control of imperialism,' said Ismail Qaani, the deputy commander of the Quds Force, on Thursday. He emphasized, 'We started from the Sacred Defense and are daily liberating lands that have been under the control of imperialism.' He added, 'Wherever America has come to create obstacles in the path of our revolution, it has failed; whether in Afghanistan, Iraq, or Lebanon.' Ali Saeedi, the representative of the Supreme Leader in the IRGC, on Thursday, October 24, referred to Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, and Latin America as the 'strategic depth' of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran has sided with the government of Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war and is active against ISIS in Iraq. Meanwhile, officials from some Arab countries accuse Iran of interfering in the internal affairs of Yemen and Bahrain, allegations that Iran has denied.