Qassem Suleimani in Amerli Meanwhile NCTC's Olsen took a huge pass when asked about Iran's role vs ISIS.
NEW YORK — Iraq's president says he heard that the leader of Iran's Quds Forces was in Iraq and tried to meet him, but that he wasn't "around."
"I don't believe that there are advisers but the nature of the place, the nature of the area, there are daily meetings that take place," Iraqi President Fuad Masum said during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations on Friday, in response to a question about whether Iranian military advisors are active in Iraq. "They say, for example that one of the Iranian generals is in Iraq."
"And during this period, I haven't met him, and I wanted to find out, and I said if he's around let me see him," Masum said. "But he wasn't. I couldn't see him. They said that Mr. Soleimani was in Iraq."
Masum was referring to Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, a mysterious figure whom the New Yorker called "the Iranian operative who has been reshaping the Middle East," and who has been a key player in the Syrian crisis.
Soleimani was reportedly spotted in Iraq this summer during the conflict with ISIS over the city of Amerli. A Revolutionary Guards commander confirmed this week that Soleimani had been on the ground in Iraq, saying "Our great commander, General Soleimani stopped the advance of Daesh with 70 people and they were not able to enter Arbil." Daesh is a shortened version of the full name in Arabic for ISIS.
Masum was less vague on the topic of the Iranians providing humanitarian aid and light weapons.
"The first country that provided help for the refugees and those who were on the top of Mount Sinja was Iran," Masum said. "Iran provided humanitarian aid to them and I have to admit they also provided light weapons for the fighters who were on this mountain defending themselves."