“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.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokeswoman said the spread of terrorist moves in Iraq is an obvious example of the transnational threat of terrorism, Press TV reported Tuesday.

“Given the worldwide threat of terrorism, it is necessary for governments and international bodies to stand by the Iraqi government and nation under the current critical situation,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said on Tuesday.

She expressed concern over repeated terrorist attacks on Iraqi cities and rural areas and hoped joint efforts by the country’s army, security forces and people to counter terrorist moves would restore security and peace.

Afkham also expressed Iran’s support for the Iraqi government and nation and said strengthening national unity and convergence among all political groups will play a “very important and effective” role in fighting terrorists.

Al-Qaeda-linked militants occupied Mosul, the capital of the Nineveh Province, after they took control of the governor’s headquarters, prisons and television stations.

Mosul is the second Iraqi city to fall to militants this year, after the government lost control of Fallujah in early January.

The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, DAESH, later occupied some parts of Kirkuk and the militants also managed to launch attacks in the capital city Baghdad and in other parts Iraq.

A source in Iraq’s defense ministry said that Tuesday night they sent Special Forces to Mosul which was occupied by DAESH.

Nour al-Maleki, Iraq’s Prime Minister, issued a state of emergency throughout the country. He said that all whose negligence lead to such results would be strongly punished.

Shiites’ Grand Ayatollah, Sayed Ali Sistani, released a statement on Tuesday and condemned the capture of the Nineveh province. The Shiite cleric called for unity among all of the country’s political factions against the militants.