TEHRAN - General Qassem Soleimani was able to organize the axis of resistance and thwart the conspiracy of the United States to the extent that the decline of the U.S. and its withdrawal from the region are the results of the efforts of Gen. Soleimani, a former Iranian diplomat has said.

In an interview with IRNA published on Saturday, Mohsen Pak’aeen called ISIS a “means” for the United States to partition the countries in the region.

Highlighting the goals that the U.S. sought by creating the takfiri terrorist groups in the region, Pak’aeen said, "The U.S. goal to create terrorist groups in the West Asia region, especially ISIS, is to destabilize Muslim countries and weaken the opposition to the Zionist regime to ensure its security."

The expert on international affairs noted that the United States considers the security of the Zionist regime as one of its strategic plans, and in this goal both the Democrats and Republicans are unanimous in upholding this strategy.

"During a period, the U.S., both because of financial problems and the pressure on their troops, decided to withdraw from the region," he said, noting that during this period, the United States sought to establish terrorist groups to pursue its goals in West Asia, including Syria and Iraq.

Arguing that ISIS was created to pursue this goal, Pak’aeen said in line with this strategy some reactionary countries in the region also armed and financed ISIS.

The former Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan said, "The goal of the United States, Europe and reactionary countries was to overthrow the legitimate government of Bashar al-Assad by the ISIS leverage and to bring a government into power in Syria that will be pro-American, and at the same time they were interested in disintegrating Syria to several parts."

As a courageous commander, Gen. Soleimani stood side by side with the Axis of Resistance and succeeded to isolate ISIS, the U.S. and the Zionist regime.

"This strategy is also being pursued by the Americans in relation to other Islamic countries, who are trying to weaken the big Islamic countries to ensure the security of the Zionist regime by partitioning Islamic countries and turning them into several small countries," Pak’aeen pointed out.

The analyst also said the Americans intended to overthrow the Bashar al-Assad government and disintegrate Syria. The Europeans also supported such a policy in Syria under the name of establishing democracy in Syria, he added.

The Americans armed ISIS in different parts of Syria and then pursued their goals, causing countless damage, he stated.

"They also inflicted a lot of damage and killed innocent people, and we saw that it did not matter to them whether the killed and the injured were Shias or Sunnis, and after Syria, they extended the same project to Iraq."

The expert highlighted, "They tried to divide Iraq into three parts, Shia, Kurdish and Sunni, and weaken the two powerful Muslim countries in the region, Iraq and Syria, which had anti-Zionist motives, and eliminate them from the fight against the Zionist regime."

Further in his remakes, he explained the role and position of General Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC, in extinguishing the sedition of ISIS.

"General Soleimani was able to find out the sedition of ISIS, and through his insight he identified all the plans of the Americans and their European and regional supporters and stood against the plans of the Americans with his own plans. After 6 years he succeeded in defeating ISIS, and the release of Al Bukamal promised that the end of ISIS would come in another three months, which happened."

Pak’aeen noted that Gen. Soleimani was a person who, apart from Islamic, mystical, ideological dimensions and trust in God, was gifted with deep insight to predict events and thwart the enemy's plan to the extent that U.S. generals “usually respected him”, and despite the fact that General Soleimani was an enemy of the United States, they considered him a military legend who, through his special tact, could stand against the United States and thwart their plans.

The former diplomat reiterated, "General Soleimani put the establishment of the Axis of Resistance on his agenda to counter the American conspiracies. Considering that the anti-Zionist movements in the region, including in Lebanon, Palestine and other regions, trusted him and believed in his honesty, he was soon able to form the Axis of Resistance consisting of Hezbollah, and Palestinian forces such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as the internal forces of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen."

The expert underscored that today, the Axis of Resistance is in fact the most important institution that has stood against the United States and the Zionist regime in the region, following the decline of the United States and the Zionist regime.

The former diplomat stated, "If today it is said that the United States is on the decline and no one doubts it, or it is predicted that the Zionist regime will move on the path of decline, this is due to General Soleimani's plans to create and support the Axis of Resistance." 

Pak’aeen went on to say that Gen. Soleimani as a courageous commander stood side by side with the Axis of Resistance, and as a result, he succeeded in isolating not only ISIS but also the United States and the Zionist regime.

If the United States did leave a record of an influential country in West Asia, it was due to General Soleimani who nullified the plots of the United States and the Zionist regime through his insightfulness.

On whether the assassination of Gen. Soleimani was a retribution for undermining ISIS in the region, he said, "The United States put the assassination of General Soleimani on the agenda because of his role in curbing and destroying the sedition of ISIS, and cowardly, illegally and desperately martyred this great general and his Iraqi associate Abu Mahdi Muhandis."

"At the same time, in order to be able to exploit the remnants of ISIS, and after defeating them in Iraq and Syria, the U.S. transferred them to Afghanistan with the help of the Zionist regime, and today we see that ISIS in Afghanistan also implements U.S. policies to destabilize Afghanistan."
 
He expressed hope that the ruling groups in Afghanistan and all Mujahedeen groups would be able to stand against ISIS and not allow the United States to turn Afghanistan into another Syria to dominate the country.

The expert said, "Of course, in this regard, the countries of the region, especially Iran, Russia and China, and countries with a history of fighting terrorism must be vigilant and not allow ISIS in Afghanistan to meet U.S. goals in Afghanistan through their own plans and contacts with the current Afghan governing body."