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March 6th, 2018 
Awake Goy IRNA – An Indian analyst of international affairs stressed Iran’s unique role in fighting terrorism and said victory over Daesh (ISIS) would have been a dream in Iran’s absence.
Talking to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in an exclusive interview, Kallol Bhattacherjee termed the combat against terrorism as an “unending war” in West Asia.
Elaborating on the point, he said, “Iran has a historic role in countering fundamentalism and terrorism in the West Asian region. Tehran has played this role in partnership with India since the late Cold War era. It needs to be remembered that Imam Khomeini blessed this India-Iran cooperation during his lifetime. Towards the end of the Iran-Iraq war, as the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan came to an end, Iran, like India foresaw the challenge that a destabilised country would pose to its security interests in the region. It was in this backdrop that India and Iran held first round of consultations during the 1980s.”
He went on to stress that “Iran’s role in containing terrorism and extremism in India’s neighbourhood is natural and Tehran has played that role throughout the post-Cold War era.”
Pointing to Iran’s supreme contribution in defeating terrorism in the region, the analyst further highlighted the role of Iran in preventing expansion of terrorism in Europe.
He said, “Europe needs strong partners in the war against terrorism which has now dug deep roots in the continent. The situation in Syria and the ISIS-related attacks have shown that European security agencies have failed to do their bit in preventing the spread of terrorism in European countries. Europe needs strong regional allies in the fight against extremism and terrorism and Iran is best suited for the partnership as it has one of the strongest states of West Asia.”
“I have witnessed episodes of the war in Iraq and Syria and have to admit that Iran has played a highly constructive role in ensuring defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The world would have been totally destabilised if the ISIS was allowed to hold on to territory and people for longer. Fall of Mosul and the victory of the government of President Assad would not have been possible without the continued support from Tehran to defeat IS and its affiliates in the West Asian region,” he added.
Noting that at present “there is an international understanding of what constitutes cross border or international terrorism,” he said,“Countries should unite to defeat this phenomenon without distinction. But most of all, there is an urgent need to ensure fairness within national societies – all over the world. Injustice and unfair treatment should be addressed to ensure long term removal of terrorism.”
Comparing the role of US and Iran in fighting or promoting terrorism in the West Asian region, he said that “the US foreign policy in the West Asia as well as in the Arab world was from the beginning made of wrong information. In the late 1980s, they extended support to the hard line Islamists in Afghanistan who went on to build the Taliban after the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Kabul in 1989. Similarly, their armed intervention in Iraq and Libya ensured catastrophic consequence.”
“So”, he added, “I would say that Iran has played a great role in ensuring some modicum of sanity prevails in the West Asian state system. “
Source Article from https://theiranproject.com/blog/2018/03/06/indian-analyst-stresses-irans-unique-role-combating-terrorism/
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