Tehran/Baghdad/Cairo: Days after the Iranian government expressed its will to work in cooperation with the US to drive Sunni militants out of Iraq, the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday expressed strong opposition to intervention in Iraq by the United States or anyone else, saying Iraqis themselves could bring an end to violence there, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Mr Khamenei, who has the last word on all matters of state, added in remarks to judiciary officials that Washington aimed to keep Iraq under its control and place its own stooges in power. The conflict there was not sectarian, but was really between those who wanted Iraq in the US camp and those who sought Iraq’s independence.
“We are strongly opposed to US and other (countries’) intervention in Iraq,” IRNA quoted Mr Khamenei as saying. “We don’t approve of it, as we believe the Iraqi government, nation and religious authorities are capable of ending the sedition. And God willing, they will do so.”
Meanwhile, US secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the West Asia on Sunday for talks on the Iraq crisis, as Sunni militants made new gains in an offensive.
Mr Kerry arrived in Cairo on Sunday, where he was due to meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to urge him to install greater political freedoms and discuss security challenges. He was due later in Amman for talks with Jordan’s foreign minister Nasser Judeh before carrying on to Brussels and Paris.
State department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Mr Kerry would “consult with partners and allies on how we can support security, stability, and the formation of an inclusive government in Iraq”.
Fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant captured another town in Iraq’s western Anbar province — the fourth in two days. The militants seized Rutba, 150 km east of Jordan’s border, officials said.
However, an Iraqi security spokesman said on Sunday that Iraqi forces have made a “tactical” withdrawal from three western towns.
“The military units’ withdrawal (from Al-Qaim, Rawa and Ana) was for the purpose of redeployment,” Lieutenant General Qassem Atta said, referring to it as a “tactical” move.
Witnesses said insurgents moved into Rawa and Ana, in Anbar province, on Saturday evening, after security officers and witnesses also reported militants entering Al-Qaim earlier in the day.
There were also reports of an air strike on the Iraqi city of Tikrit killed at least seven people on Sunday.
