Some Persian Gulf states seek to defeat resistance: Iraqi VP Maliki

Iraq’s former Prime Minister and current Vice President Nouri al-Maliki says some Persian Gulf states are after defeating the resistance front, which he says has nevertheless come out victorious on the battlefront against ill-wishers and extremists.

Maliki, who is the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party, made the remarks during a meeting with Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in Tehran on Tuesday. He arrived in the Iranian capital on Saturday on a four-day visit aimed at meeting and consulting with senior Iranian officials.

“Some countries, including [some] Persian Gulf ones, harbor the intention of defeating the resistance front,” he said, but noted that the resistance has triumphed in the face of all challenges. “The enemy front has been defeated in the political and military arenas.”

The visit to the Islamic Republic and an upcoming meeting with the Leader, he said, was taking place as the region was at a sensitive juncture.

He said he was visiting Iran to discuss the laying out of the necessary contingency measures needed so the victories achieved so far can be used to advance future goals and defeat the groups that seek to harm the resistance front.

Iraq has been fighting Daesh since 2014, when the terrorist group launched an offensive in the country, overrunning territory and brutalizing local populations.

According to numerous reports, Daesh has been receiving ideological and military support from Saudi Arabia — whose official radical ideology of Wahhabism informs the group’s extremism — and Qatar, among other countries.

Despite such regional patronage for the terrorist group, Joint Iraqi forces have managed to deal significant blows to Daesh. They are currently involved in a major offensive to flush the group out of the northern city of Mosul, its last urban stronghold in Iraq.

Velayati, meanwhile, congratulated Maliki on the occasion of the recent liberation of the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo from Takfiri groups, which he said was not only a victory for Syria but also for Iraq and Iran.

The militants in Syria have been fighting the Syrian government and people alongside Daesh since 2011.

“Not only is Aleppo’s liberation considered a victory for our brothers in Syria, but also it is regarded as a victory for Iraq, Iran, and the line of resistance,” he noted.

Iran has been providing military advisory support to Syria and Iraq in their counterterrorism efforts. The Syrian military has also been enjoying effectual assistance by the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah on the warfront.

“We will soon witness the return of Mosul to the nation’s embrace, too, and the Iraqi forces and Hashd al-Sha’bi will cut the aggressors’ hands off the important and strategic city,” Velayati said, referring to the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) by their Arabic name.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk