Iran says foreign intervention won’t solve crisis in Iraq

 Mohammad Nahavandian, the  chief of staff of the president of Iran, has said that experiences learnt in conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan suggest that intervention by foreign countries will not help resolve the crisis in Iraq.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende in Oslo on Thursday.

The remarks by the Iranian official come as the Iraqi forces are entangled in a fierce fighting in northern Iraq with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and militants loyal to the toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The ISIL terrorists have vowed to continue their military offensive until they reach Baghdad, but Iraqi forces and around 1.5 million volunteers succeeded in halting the terrorists’ advance and pushing the militants back.

On Thursday, Obama said U.S. military forces had increased their intelligence-gathering flights over Iraq in recent days and would consider military strikes if necessary.

Nahavandian went on to say that if the international community prevented the conflagration of the situation in Syria since the crisis began in the country, today there would be no ISIL militants in Iraq.

For his part, Brende said the acts of the ISIL are cruel.

Commenting on the nuclear talks between Iran and the six major powers (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany), he said Norway supports the talks.

Regarding global developments, it is necessary to facilitate clinching a comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran and the six powers.

During the meeting, ties between Iran and Norway were also discussed.

Nahavandian is in Norway to attend the conference Oslo Forum, where a hundred peace mediators are gathered to discuss how the international community can deal with the rise of radical extremist groups.