Iran Offers Iraq ‘Everything it Needs’ to fight

IRAN OFFERS IRAQ ‘EVERYTHING IT NEEDS’ TO FIGHT ISIS

As President Obama weighs whether to re-enter the Iraq war, the country’s neighbor, Iran, is looking to step into the void.

U.S. and senior Iraqi officials tell The Daily Beast that Iran is now offering the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki its army, its spies and highly trained irregular units from its revolutionary guard corps to root out the Sunni insurgency that now threatens Baghdad. Gen. Qassem Solaimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, arrived in Baghdad last week with an entourage of military advisers to begin preparations for such a counter-offensive. A member of the Quds Force has already allegedly been killed fighting in Iraq. 

While last week a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said his government received no formal requests for military assistance from Iraq’s government, senior Iraqi officials tell The Daily Beast that Iran has offered such support nonetheless.

“The offer to help us with everything we need has been made from the highest levels of the Iranian government,” a senior Iraqi official told The Daily Beast. This official stressed that Iran’s offer to assist Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) was not conditional on Maliki making any immediate reforms or changes to his government


www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/16/iran-offers-iraq-everything-it-needs-to-fight-isis.html