Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has said that it is with the help of Iran that Daesh is on its last breath in Iraq and Syria.

In an exclusive interview with CNN published on website on Thursday, he said that Daesh would have occupied Baghdad without Iran’s help.

He also expressed disbelief at the “watered-down” version of U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban.

The new U.S. policy will ban all arrivals from Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia for 90 days, if the new arrivals have no relationship with a person or entity in the United States.

“At the time when Iraq was being overrun by Daesh, by ISIS, did the United States make the slightest move in defense of it? Or was it the Iranian nation that rendered aid to the Iraqi nation and Iraq government?” Larijani says.
“At the time when Iraq was being overrun by Daesh, by ISIS, did the United States make the slightest move in defense of it? Or was it the Iranian nation that rendered aid to the Iraqi nation and Iraq government?” Larijani said.

He said “numerous Iranians” live in the U.S., and called on the American administration to provide proof that any of them has been involved in terrorism.

“I have spoken about this before, so many Iranians live in the United States, study in the United States, engage in business in the United States, which one of them have engaged in terrorism?” he asked.

The Parliamentary speaker argued the ban was unlikely to work, because terrorists “seldom to never” enter a country under their own names or nationalities.

“President Trump and American officials are aware of this. The terrorists must be defeated at the source. Where are their sources? Where are they? They are in Afghanistan, in Syria, in Iraq,” he said.

Larijani says “numerous Iranians” live in the U.S., and calls on the American administration to provide proof that any of them has been involved in terrorism.

Saudi demands on Qatar not ‘logical’

Larijani criticized the ongoing boycott of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and its allies until a series of demands, including cutting ties with Iran, are met.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt sparked a rift with Qatar on June 5, accusing the country of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the region.

Among the conditions of the embargo were that Qatar must: shut down the Al Jazeera news network, halt the development of a Turkish military base in the country, and cut ties to extremist organizations.

The U.S. has called for a resolution to the crisis.

Larijani questioned whether Saudi Arabia had the right to “dictate” conditions to another independent nation.

“Is it logical, is it mature for one country to dictate to another and say you must do as I say? Well you must cease relations, for example, with Iran?” he said. “I do not believe that ... the Saudis carry this sort of weight to say these sort of things.”