Iran Voices Support for Iraq in Fighting Terrorism

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian

“We will mightily support Iraq in is confrontation with terrorism,” Amir Abdollahian told the Islamic republic news agency on Wednesday night.

“We are sure that the Iraqi armed forces will powerfully and effectively crash the terrorist and Takfiri forces,” he added.

He also strongly condemned the seizure of the Turkish consulate office in Mosul, Iraq and the kidnapping of the consul-general and other diplomatic staff by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists.

Militants seized the Turkish consulate in the Northern Iraqi city of Mosul and efforts are under way to ensure the safety of diplomatic staff, two Turkish government sources said on Wednesday.

Terrorists from an Al-Qaeda splinter group, ISIL seized Mosul on Tuesday.

Turkey has promised to retaliate if any of its citizens are harmed in Iraq, after 49 members of the Turkish consulate in Mosul were abducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The Turkish government said on Wednesday that diplomats, staff, security guards and three children were held by ISIL fighters and efforts were being made to ensure their release.

It brings to 80 the number of Turkish citizens being held by ISIL. On Tuesday, the group abducted 31 Turkish lorry drivers as it took control of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.

“ISIL members managed to kidnap the Turkish consul,” an unnamed Iraqi police colonel told the AFP news agency, adding that an ISIL fighter had told him those held were “safe” and would be moved to a “safer place”.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, held an emergency meeting with security and military officers to discuss the response to the raid, Turkish media reported.