Hezbollah Leader Hails Historical Mosul Victory, Says US Created ISIS

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah made the remarks during a live broadcast from Beirut on Tuesday evening (Local Time) following the Iraqi victory over the ISIS Takfiri terrorist group in the northern city of Mosul, which marked the end of the nine-month long battle to eject ISIS terrorists from their stronghold and Iraq’s second largest city.
 
Sayyed Nasrallah said that ISIS invasion of Mosul in 2014 pushed many Iraqis to get frustrated and disappointed, adding that Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Sistani later issued a historical Islamic religious edict or Fatwa for all the Iraqis to fight the terrorists.
 
The resistance movement's leader maintained that the Ayatollah Sistani’s Fatwa managed to move the Iraqi’s out of the state of disappointment and frustration and contributed to establishing the Popular Mobilization Forcess (PMF), noting that this Fatwa encouraged the Iraqi army and security forces and motivated hundreds of thousands of youths to join the war on ISIS.
 
"There is no doubt that the victory that was announced by Iraq Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi in Mosul is a great victory," Sayyed Nasrallah said. "Some from the region [West Asia] viewed ISIS as a revolutionary movement of the Arabic Spring, welcomed it, and endorsed it."
 
He added that even some countries in the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council endorsed and supported ISIS.
 
Sayyed Nasrallah added that the Islamic Republic of Iran, led by Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, provided Iraq with all forms of assistance just after ISIS invasion, adding that country's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) advisors assisted Iraqi forces in combating ISIS.
 
Sayyed Nasrallah also pointed out that the Iraqi people rejected imposition of foreign regulations and attempt to frustrate their will to fight ISIS, stressing that this was a factor in their victory.
 
Conflict in Iraq not sectarian
 
The Hezbollah leader also hailed the role of Sunni scholars in the war on ISIS saying, "Iraq's armed forces in their different forms and names united them [Iraqis] from all backgrounds." He dismissed claims that the conflict was "conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims."
 
Sayyed Nasrallah noted that to restore security across the rest of Iraq, the country’s forces have to sustain the battle against ISIS adding that there is a historical chance to completely eradicate the takfiri group in Iraq, Syria and the entire region.
 
The Lebanese movement's leader pointed out that the United States created the ISIS terrorist group and gave regional states the green light to fund and support it.
 
He noted that the US officials acknowledged that Obama’s administration established ISIS and that the American assistance to the Iraqi army is controversial.
 
International effort
 
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that contrary to claims by the US army that the battle against terrorism will take years, it in fact only requires a concerted international effort.
 
"Today, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and the people and states of the region that are afraid of ISIS have a historic opportunity," he said, giving credit to all who fought against ISIS.
 
The Hezbollah leader also slammed some Arab media outlets for their attempts to fuel sectarianism and encourage the Takfiri terrorists to kill innocent people.
 
Terrorist threat in Lebanon
 
On the domestic front, Hezbollah Secretary General asserted that the terrorists in Arsal barrens border region represent a main threat to the whole of Lebanon as some of the suicide bombings train in that region. "There has been a great effort to expose these sleeper cells," Nasrallah said, crediting the Lebanese Army military intelligence. "There is no doubt of what happened on the Arsal outskirts...has significantly reduced these dangers, but have not ended them," he added.
 
Nasrallah added that while "mistakes could have been made" it should not be used as a way to attack those that "spend night and day" maintaining stability and security in Lebanon.
 
The Hezbollah secretary-general hinted that the situation on the outskirts of Arsal has spiraled out of control, despite the Lebanese government's best efforts.
 
"In the outskirts of Arsal, and a portion of the terrorists are plotting from there," he said. "We said more than once, that this situation needs a solution."
 
"We don't move when the Lebanese government takes responsibility - if you want us to stay at home, we will, and if you want us to join you, we will," he added. "But I think this situation reached its final point." He concluded by stating that time has come to end the terrorist threat in the outskirts of Arsal.