ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The commander of Iran’s elite Quds force, who has been reportedly leading the Iraqi Army and its allied Shiite militia in the fight to push Islamic State (ISIS) out of the city of Tikrit, has been captured on video speaking in Arabic for the first time. In a short video posted on YouTube Soleimani, who has commanded immense influence in Iraq for many years, is seen giving religious advice, apparently to the joint forces fighting for Tikrit. “Respect your parents and avoid that which is haram (forbidden in Islam),” Iran’s most powerful man in Iraq says in the video clip. The place the video was recorded remains unknown. Soleimani and his elite forces reportedly have been seen fighting along with Iraqi forces to clear Tikrit of ISIS militants, an operation that coalition forces have declined to back with air support. “Now in this situation we need experts in jihad,” Soleimani advises. “If you would be able to become experienced jihadists the next Iraqi generation would gain more from your experience,” Soleimani says. The Iranian commander urges Iraqi joint forces to fight against the Sunni militants, calling the task a religious duty. He ends his words with a prayer for “more success.” Soleimani also has reportedly been involved in the fighting in Syria, where Iran has been backing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Tehran’s closest Arab ally.
