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Iran officials call for international response to ISIS violence

Iranian officials respond to the fall of Mosul to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham extremists.

Burnt vehicles are seen during clashes between Iraqi security forces and al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, June 10, 2014. Radical Sunni Muslim insurgents seized control of most of Iraq's second largest city of Mosul early on Tuesday, overrunning a military base and freeing hundreds of prisoners in a spectacular strike against the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR3T3UD
Burned vehicles are seen during clashes between Iraqi security forces and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, June 10, 2014. — REUTERS

The fall of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, to Islamic militants has Iranian officials concerned.

Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, addressed the victories of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) against a fleeing Iraqi military in a meeting with Syria’s ambassador to Iran. “The expansion of terrorist elements of [ISIS] and their violent acts in Iraq was a warning for the region,” Shamkhani said. “There is a need for attention and action from governments and the international community.”

Without naming names, Shamkhani said that those who support these terrorist groups would eventually be affected by them as well.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Marzieh Afkham condemned the ISIS attacks in Mosul, calling them a danger that reaches beyond Iraq’s borders. “The threat to the world of terrorism requires governments and the international community, in the current dangerous situation, to stand with the people of Iraq,” said Afkham. She expressed Iran’s readiness to help the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government in confronting terrorism.

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