Jun 11, 2014

The fall of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, to Islamic militants has Iranian officials concerned.

Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, addressed the victories of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) against a fleeing Iraqi military in a meeting with Syria’s ambassador to Iran. “The expansion of terrorist elements of [ISIS] and their violent acts in Iraq was a warning for the region,” Shamkhani said. “There is a need for attention and action from governments and the international community.”

Without naming names, Shamkhani said that those who support these terrorist groups would eventually be affected by them as well.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Marzieh Afkham condemned the ISIS attacks in Mosul, calling them a danger that reaches beyond Iraq’s borders. “The threat to the world of terrorism requires governments and the international community, in the current dangerous situation, to stand with the people of Iraq,” said Afkham. She expressed Iran’s readiness to help the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government in confronting terrorism.

Ismael Kowsari, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said that the ISIS victories were not a direct threat to Iran, but would cause the disintegration of Iraq. “[ISIS] is after the goals of its supporters and Israel, and their goals are to cause differences and disintegrate Iraq,” Kowsari said. He called on Iraq’s neighbors to help secure the country’s territorial integrity.