State Department: Iran is top state sponsor of terrorism
State Department: Iran is top state sponsor of terrorism – Annual report says Tehran supports terror groups worldwide, sows instability; lists Islamic …
Annual report says Tehran supports terror groups worldwide, sows instability; lists Islamic State as ‘greatest threat globally’
The US State Department released its annual report on global terrorist activity on Thursday, listing Iran as the top state sponsor of terrorism and labeling the Islamic State as “the greatest threat globally” and a “formidable force” in Iraq and Syria.
“Iran remained the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2015, providing a range of support, including financial, training and equipment, to groups around the world,” the State Department report read.
The report listed Sudan and Syria as the other two state sponsors of terrorism, and included a 2015 tally of 11,774 terrorist attacks in 92 countries worldwide, resulting in more than 28,300 total deaths and more than 35,300 people injured.
In a briefing to reporters Thursday, the Department’s Acting Coordinator for Counter-terrorism Justin Siberell said: “Iran continues to provide support to Hezbollah, Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, and various groups in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.”
The report stated that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force, led by General Qassem Suleimani was “Iran’s primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists abroad.”
Iran uses the unit “to implement foreign policy goals, provide cover for intelligence operations and create instability in the Middle East,” the report overview read.
In Iraq and Syria, Iran has dispatched the Quds force, together with Hezbollah, to provide funding, training and advisers for Shiite militants, primarily Iraqi Shiite terror group Kata’ib Hezbollah, of which many members have fought alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces, according to the report.
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