By Vestnik Kavkaza
In recent time extremists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant have intensified their activity in Iraq. They have occupied vast territories and declared the building of an Islamic caliphate not only in Iraq, but also in Syria. The Baghdad government addressed Washington to strike at the positions of the militants. The USA is considering the possibility.
Meanwhile, according to Amir Hossein Abdollahiyan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, what happened in Iraq was the result of the external interference of the United States: “The Americans want to turn Iraq into another "Ukraine." The strategic mistake of the U.S. in Syria was to use the opposition, the Al-Qaeda terrorist group and other terrorist groups simultaneously against Syrian President Bashar Assad. Using the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq, they are repeating the same mistake. What happened in Iraq was primarily psychological warfare, hype, promotion of terror with the help of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Tehran and Moscow have a common viewpoint on the events and we will support Iraq in its fight against terrorism.”
Abdollahiyan thinks that if changes in Iraq are out of control they could affect a big part of the region: “One cannot have instability in one country and expect that the region as a whole will remain safe. We believe that the solution to the Iraqi issue is based on two pillars. The first is to help Iraq to lead a serious war against terrorism. And the second is to pay attention to the political process in the country, which is based on the Iraqi constitution. Common enemies of the region are making efforts to ensure that countries in the region become fractured. They have been implementing a similar scenario first in Libya, then Ukraine, from Ukraine they turned to Syria and now from Syria to Iraq.”
Sergei Mikheyev, President of the Center of Political Situation, shares Abdollahiyan’s view. “The people who are occupying Iraqi territory won’t stop at Iraq. Their idea is the establishment of a global caliphate. And I think they will spread the instability further. If they achieve success in Iraq and on the border of Syria and Turkey, I think they will attack Iran and Turkey, and later the instability will threaten the South Caucasus. Unfortunately, it is real. But the main thing is that it is a result of the American experiments. I mean their efforts in Iraq and Syria resulted in the fact that the people whom they initially supported and continue to support in Syria actually created a black hole in the Middle East, a state of terrorists, and their intentions are not clear. And it threatens neighboring states. It is a direct result of the American adventure of building democracy in Iraq,” Mikheyev told Vestnik Kavkaza.
