The deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces said on Monday the US-led military campaign against terror groups in Iraq and Syria is misleading and is just a "change of policy and tactic" for a renewed military presence in the region.
Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said, "The United States itself has played a leading role in creating, arming, and financing terror groups like the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria."
The current US campaign of fighting terror groups and eliminating IS is part of Washington's new strategy to further its own objectives in the region, the Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.
IS is a terror group that was fighting the central government in Syria. Since June the group sent its militants into Iraq seizing large parts of land straddling the border between the two neighboring states. IS militants have committed numerous crimes and atrocities there that has forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
Earlier this month, the US and its allies agreed to launch airstrikes against IS militants in Iraq and later extended the aerial bombardment to Syria as part of a US-led coalition.
Iran has refused to be part of the coalition since it accuses the US and its other members, including some regional countries, of adopting double standards when it comes to the issue of terrorism. Tehran has already lent its support to the Iraqi government and army in combating IS militants through providing military advice.
