Will Iran Be The Next U.S. Ally Against The Islamic State?
The military campaign against the Islamic State, unsuccessfully led by the United States, may soon find help from an unlikely corner.
That’s because Iranian President Hassan Rouhani just went on Iranian national television and declared his country to be the Middle East’s last best hope against terrorism.
With the U.S. led coalition unwilling to commit ground troops in the battle against the Islamic State, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said his country would stand against ISIS, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Today we tell the world that the biggest antiterrorism force is the armed forces of the Islamic Republic. If, heaven forbid, terrorism emerges in other neighboring countries, they could again pin their hopes on the Iranian armed forces and be sure that the big powers would be of no help to them.”
The self-proclaimed caliphate Islamic State seized huge swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014, leading to a U.S. led military campaign to destroy them. Although the allies have experienced some success, the radical caliphate remains.
Iran Armed Forces fully ready to counter threats: Army commander http://t.co/jQvjHLK4iT pic.twitter.com/pnJqB7CGGy
— Press TV (@PressTV) September 22, 2015
Iran has experience aiding the Iraqi militias battling ISIS since last year, and has also aided Syrian forces in their effort to oust the radical caliphate.
The U.S., meanwhile, has only been able to train 60 people to fight against IS in Syria and only four or five remain today, according to Al Monitor. In Iraq, there are 11,000 U.S. trained fighters.
The situation has become so desperate the U.S. has begun to arm Lebanon’s military, despite its close ties to Hezbollah, a U.S.-listed terrorist group. That country is now the fifth largest recipient of U.S. military aid, according to the Huffington Post.
Could the U.S. and Iran team up to fight #ISIS? "You must be dreaming," a top general says: http://t.co/mj5E6eBVGY pic.twitter.com/rSJPNqqn78
— CNN International (@cnni) September 22, 2015
The danger that American-made weapons may wind up in the hands of Hezbollah are deemed minimal when compared with the need to contain the Islamic State.
Some Western experts warn against relying on Iran to defeat the Islamic State, however, saying the country’s growing influence in the area threatens American interests. Their reasons for standing up to IS could be very different from America’s.
Their military efforts to support Syrian President Bashar Assad are one of the only reasons he remains in power, but Iran takes no responsibility for his military tactics or the large number of civilians fleeing the country.
Iran even disputes the creation of ISIS, saying it was caused by foreign powers, according to McClatchy DC.
[Photo by John Moore / Getty Images]
