Iran’s top security official said the US is encouraging ISIS by dropping bombs on paramilitary fighters along the Iraqi border.
“America’s recent action strengthens and expands the activities of the terrorist Daesh (Islamic State) in the region,” Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on a visit to Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad. Hussein.
The airstrikes late Thursday, the first under President Biden, targeted sites on the Syrian side of the Iraqi-Syrian border, where Iranian-backed groups control a major crossing point for weapons, personnel and supplies. The government said they were intended to deter future attacks on US forces in Iraq.
“The attack on anti-terrorist resistance forces is the start of a new round of organized terrorism,” Hussein said, Reuters reported.
Shamkhani said, “we will confront the US plan to revive terrorism in the region,” but did not elaborate.
Shamkhani also urged Hussein that Iran tell the US to withdraw the rest of its troops in the country, according to reports.