MNA � Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi congratulated the Iraqi government and nation on the anniversary of the liberation of Mosul from ISIL terrorists� occupation.

In a Saturday message to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, Masjedi expressed felicitations on the liberation of the Iraqi city from the terrorists by Iraqi popular forces and guidance of the late Iranian anti-terror commander Major General Qassem Soleimani.

He underlined Senior Iraqi religious leader Ayatollah Ali Sistani�s historic Fatwa which played significant part in Iraqis� fight against ISIL terrorists.

This great victory showed that Iraqi government and people can overcome all obstacles by unity and empathy, he added.

MAsjedi also hailed martyr Major General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes who played a significant role in defeating the ISIL terrorists in Iraq. The Iranian ambassador also deplored the US Administration�s terrorist act to assassinate these two anti-terrorist commanders.

Mosul fell in June 2014, when ISIL in an attack took control of the city. Iraqi forces launched the operation to retake Mosul on October 16, 2016.

In July 2017, the then Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced final �victory� over the Takfiri terrorist group in Mosul after eight months of combat against the extremists, which had left parts of the country�s second largest city in ruins.

The recapture of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad, marked the effective end of ISIL in the Arab country.