ISIL, A Global Threat: Iran Daily

Tehran, Aug 7, IRNA - ˈIran Dailyˈ on Thursday warned that the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or self-declared ‘Islamic State’ is a threat to the Middle East and perhaps the entire world. Those states or individuals who support the terrorist groups should be punished, stressed the English-langauge daily in its Opinion column, reminding those states which funnel dollars to the terrorists who are wreaking havoc in Iraq, Syria and other places, will become their next target. The UN Security Council has condemned ISIL attacks, saying the terrorist group posed a threat not only to Iraq and Syria but to “regional peace, security and stability”. “Widespread or systematic attacks directed against any civilian populations because of their ethnic background, religion or belief may constitute a crime against humanity, for which those responsible must be held accountable,” said a UNSC statement. Now everyone knows that the expansion of ISIL’s power is not in favor of any country in the world. In Syria, certain Western and Arab countries supported ISIL and other terrorist groups to remove President Bashar al-Assad, but today they have realized that the policy was wrong since their support for the terrorist group expanded its presence in other countries including Iraq and Lebanon. In Lebanon, the arrest of Abu Ahmad al-Jumaa, a Syrian militant commander who had recently pledged allegiance to ISIL, has triggered deadly clashes between terrorists and the army in the Lebanese border town of Arsal. British journalist Robert Fisk wrote in The Independent on Tuesday that after all warnings about a war that would spillover to Syria’s border, Abu Baker Al-Baghdadi ‘savage’ fighters have arrived in Lebanon. Whether Lebanon will be the next domino to fall is an alarm for all regional states, noted the daily. In light of the above, all countries should unite to prevent the spread of the terrorist group’s atrocities to other regional counties because the ISIL group only believes in destruction and ethnic cleansing irrespective of whether they are Sunnis, Shias or Christians, pointed out the daily. Europe and North America are also no longer safe due to the fact that thousands of members of the terrorist groups are their citizens and would pose security threats when they return to their countries, stressed the paper in conclusion./end