Addressing a gathering of worshipers in Tehran on Friday, Ayatollah Khatami hailed recent victories of the Iraqi and Syrian armies as well as their allied forces against the Daesh terrorists and said that with the grace of God, the criminal group has collapsed in Iraq and Syria.

“The world should be grateful to the holy Islamic Establishment (of Iran), the fatwa of Shiite religious leadership, the Hashid al-Shaabi (Iraqi voluntary forces), and the Syrian government that countered the danger (Daesh) to the humanity,” he noted.

The world should also thank Qassem Soleimani, who accomplished his advisory mission well and played a major role in defeating Daesh terrorists.

Syria’s army and its allies captured Daesh’s last stronghold in the Arab country on Wednesday, according to media reports.

Daesh’s so-called caliphate has been all but destroyed over the past two years, remaining only in Rawa in Iraq, in a few neighboring towns and patches of desert, and some isolated pockets elsewhere.

The Syrian army and its allied fighters seized swathes of central and eastern Syria in an advance against the terror group this year.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country.

In the meantime, Iran has remained a close ally of Syria and supports its legitimate government in the face of foreign-backed militancy.