Anti-Daesh quartet positive step: Iran MP

A senior Iranian lawmaker has hailed the formation of an anti-Daesh quartet including Iran, Russia, Iraq and Syria as a positive and successful step in combating terrorism in the region.

On Wednesday, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis), highlighted the major gains made by the alliance against Takfiri terrorists, reaffirming the Islamic Republic's support for the anti-terror campaign.

Boroujerdi made the remarks upon his arrival in the Syrian capital, Damascus. The Iranian lawmaker is expected to discuss bilateral ties, the anti-Israel resistance and the campaign against terrorists with senior Syrian officials, including President Bashar al-Assad, Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem and Parliament speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Laham during his stay.

Boroujerdi said that “those who claim to be fighting terrorism should have a positive stance regarding this cooperation."

He further said that the so-called US-led coalition against Daesh in Iraq and Syria has failed to succeed.

The Syrian military has been fighting terrorist groups for over four years. Iran has been offering Syria military advice in its fight against terrorist groups. Tehran has on numerous occasions insisted that the Syrian crisis needs a peaceful solution.

Since March 2011, about 250,000 people have lost their lives and millions more been displaced by the war in Syria.

The Syrian army’s counter-terror fight has recently taken a new turn as Russia in late September responded positively to a request by Damascus and began providing air support for government troops by conducting air raids on terrorist positions.

Backed by Moscow’s anti-terror air raids, the Syrian army has in recent days made numerous gains on the battlefield against Takfiri terror groups. However, the Russian air raids have drawn criticism from Western governments and their regional allies, which have long been supporting the militants operating in the region.

Since last September, the US and some of its allies have been pounding positions purportedly belonging to Daesh inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a United Nations mandate. The campaign has so far failed to dislodge the group, which has overrun about a third of the country.

Quartet intelligence-sharing center

Meanwhile, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Russia have formed an intelligence-sharing center in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, in their fight against Takfiri terrorists.

On Tuesday Iraq announced that it had started bombing Takfiri Daesh targets with help from intelligence gathered by the quartet.

Earlier this week, the Iraqi air force hit a convoy thought to be transporting the so-called ringleader of Daesh, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, based on information provided by the center, according to Hakim al-Zamili, the head of the Iraqi parliament’s defense and security committee. Later, however, security officials said Baghdadi was not in the convoy.

Iraqi forces have managed to drive Daesh terrorists out of many areas they seized last year.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence since Daesh terrorists began their campaign of terror in the country in June 2014.

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