Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Iran has sent troops to bolster the Shi’ite regime of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki.

Iran pledged to defend the Al Maliki regime in an effort to head off an Al Qaida onslaught on the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

Diplomatic sources said Teheran has deployed thousands of troops and Shi’ite fighters to protect the Baghdad government as well as Shi’ite communities in southern Iraq.

“This is an extremist, terrorist group that is acting savagely,” Iranian
President Hassan Rowhani said.

In a television address on June 12, Rowhani pledged to “combat violence,
extremism and terrorism in the region and the world.” The president, who
later met the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, did not elaborate.

The diplomatic sources said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was ordered to take measures to protect Al Maliki after ISIL’s capture of Mosul on June 10. They said IRGC was organizing units to block any Al Qaida advance toward Baghdad.

“Neither Iraq nor Iran has the manpower to try to recapture ISIL
positions,” a source said. “For now, the focus is to protect Baghdad and
southern Iraq.”

Iran has accused Saudi Arabia of financing ISIL, which controls much of
northern Syria. The sources said Saudi support
to ISIL comprised a key element in reconciliation talks between Riyad and
Teheran in May 2014.

  Boots on the ground: Iran sends IRGC troops to protect Baghdad, Hassan Rowhani, ISIL, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Nouri Al Maliki