Iraqi army forces and Shi’ite militias, with the help of Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers, continue their fight to liberate Tikrit from Islamic State (ISIS), according to local reports Friday. 

Iraqi officials explained that Iranian involvement in the region is deepening. 

Hadi al-Aamiri, leader of the “Badr” sect of the Iraqi parliament, said in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat Friday that the presence of Iranian advisers accompanying the Iraqi army is “a source of pride.” 

“Why is there some sensitivity with respect to the presence of Iranian consultants here, when it is known that there are currently more than four thousand American advisers in Iraq?” he asked. 

“The Iranian advisers accompany us on the battlefield and give us the best counseling, and we are proud of them, because they will help us to liberate the provinces of Nineveh and al-Anbar fully after we liberate Tikrit and Kirkuk,” he continued. “Those who speak against the Iranian advisers should thank and praise them – for without them and without Qasem Soleimani (commander of the Guard’s Quds force), Iraq would be under ISIS rule.” 

Some 30,000 men have been involved in a week-old operation to recapture Tikrit, one of the ISIS fighters’ main hubs since they overran large parts of Iraq nine months ago.

Iran has been involved in the fight against ISIS before, having bombed the group’s jihadists in eastern Iraq in late 2014.