MOSCOW (Sputnik) –Speaking after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said on Friday there was no difference between Daesh, the Nusra Front, and groups in Syria and Iraq backed by Iran. Nahyan further listed Hezbollah, the Abbas Brigade in Syria, as well as the Badr Corps and the Popular Mobilization forces in Iraq.
"The ministry states that without the Popular Mobilisation; Daesh and Al-Qaeda would have engulfed the whole region," the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in remarks published late on Friday.
Baghdad classified the Emirati diplomat’s statements as "a flagrant intervention into the Iraqi affairs."
"The ministry reiterates that the Popular Mobilisation has come from the Iraqi components and was formed as an official body works within the umbrella of the government and under the command of the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi armed forces [Prime Minister Haider Abadi]," the ministry stressed.
Earlier, Abadi himself condemned Nahyan’s remarks and noted the Popular Mobilization’s role in anti-Daesh efforts.
