TEHRAN - Major General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Qods Force, said on Monday that Shias, Sunnis and Kurds acted unitedly in fighting Daesh in Iraq.

The major general spoke one days after Iraqi Prime Minister officially announced that security forces have wrested control of Mosul from Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Soleimani said that top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani supported all the Iraqi people regardless of their religion and ethnicity and proved that no one can create rift among the Iraqis.

“Solidarity among the Iraqis has been exemplary. The Iraqi people should know that the Shias came to help their Sunni brothers from various parts of Iraq,” he explained, adding Shias rushed to the help of Sunnis from the Shia populated cities of Basra, Nasiriyah and Amarah, Kut and Karbala. 

The general noted that the Iraqi people can live together “brotherly” forever.

Elsewhere, he said that the Islamic Republic of Iran spares no effort to the Iraqi government and people in fighting terrorism.

In early 2014, Daesh drove Iraqi government forces out of key cities in its Western Iraq offensive followed by its capture of Mosul and the Sinjar massacre.

At the time Iran rushed to the support of Iraqis in preventing the rapid advances of Daesh.

Soleimani said the Iranian Defense Ministry “worked round the clock” to provide weapons to the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilization Forces in fight against Daesh.

Soleimani also said that Iran prioritizes diplomatic moves to settle disputes, however there are certain that require actions other than diplomacy.

Hamid Baeedinejad, Iran’s ambassador to London, praised the role of General Soleimani in recapturing Mosul as “unparalleled”.

“The liberation of Mosul not only means the biggest defeat of Daesh over the last three years, but also represents a major development in the Iraqi and Syrian war against Daesh,” Baeedinejad said in a tweet.

NA/PA