ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Without the intervention of Iran’s paramilitary Basij force the Islamic State (ISIS) would have captured Baghdad, said Iran’s deputy parliamentary speaker Muhammad Hassan Abuturabi.
“If it weren’t for out Basiji forces and our wise and intelligent commanders, ISIS would be in Baghdad today,” Abuturabi told a group of Basij commanders.
Iranian forces under the command of General Qasem Soleimani are believed to have played a decisive role defeating ISIS militants in northern Diyala, close to the border with Iran.
US authorities also reported last month that Iranian fighter jets had bombed ISIS positions in Diyala.
Abuturabi described the Iranian intervention to stop the ISIS advance on Baghdad as “a great investment.”
Iranian commanders are said to accompany Shiite militia groups on different frontlines in their fight against ISIS near Baghdad and in Salahaddin province, particularly to stop the radical group from reaching the holy city of Samarrah.
Abuturabi also praised his country’s political influence in the Middle East, saying: “Without the Basiji forces Lebanon wouldn’t be the center of resistance that it is today.”
In a speech in October, Iranian general and former commander in chief Yahya Rahim Safavi said the creation of Shiite paramilitary forces in Iraq would save the country from ISIS.
“If Nouri al-Maliki had learned from the Islamic Revolution and created forces like the Basij, ISIS would never have been able to make such an advance” in Iraq, he said.
“Now they (Iraqis) have come to this conclusion and created such groups,” he added.
